https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328604003
Neutron scattering study on the structure-property relationship of radiation-grafted proton exchange membranes
1 Department of Advanced Functional Materials Research, Takasaki Institute of Advanced Quantum Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), Watanuki-machi 1233, Takasaki, Gunma, 370-1292, Japan
2 Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science @ MLZ, Lichtenbergstraße 1, D-85747 Garching, Germany
* Corresponding author: zhao.yue@qst.go.jp
Published online: 9 October 2023
The partial scattering function (PSF) analysis through the contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering technique was used to determine the exact structure of the hydrated radiation-grafted protonexchange membranes, made of poly(styrene sulfonic acid)-grafted poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE-g-PSSA) with a high ion exchange capacity of 2.5 mmol/g. The membrane was treated as a threecomponent system composed of ETFE base polymer, PSSA graft polymer, and absorbed water. The analysis on PSF self-terms gave the exact structure of individual components and that on PSF cross-terms explored the correlation between two components to establish their locations. The characterization was performed in multiple length scales, and the mechanistic insights into membrane conductivity and structure correlations were provided.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2023
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
