Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films

Nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films are frequently operated in the wet environments when they applied as electrode materials in advanced devices, such as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and electro-active polymer actuators. However, the intrinsic swelling behavior is still concealed becau...

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Main Authors: Jae-Bum Pyo, Sangmin Lee, Taek-Soo Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-08-01
Series:Polymer Testing
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941821001914
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author Jae-Bum Pyo
Sangmin Lee
Taek-Soo Kim
author_facet Jae-Bum Pyo
Sangmin Lee
Taek-Soo Kim
author_sort Jae-Bum Pyo
collection DOAJ
description Nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films are frequently operated in the wet environments when they applied as electrode materials in advanced devices, such as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and electro-active polymer actuators. However, the intrinsic swelling behavior is still concealed because of the challenge in obtaining the film in free-standing form due to its inherent brittleness. Here, we report the pure swelling characteristic of the film under various temperature and humidity by attaining the free-standing film. Mismatched strain is adopted for the separation of the films from the coating substrates. The swelling strain of the free-standing films is measured in-situ by a digital image correlation method. Simultaneously, the electrical resistance is measured by a digital multimeter and it is correlated with the microstructural alteration caused by the swelling. Macroscopic swelling is discovered in contrast to the conventional knowledge that the electrode is dimensionally stable due to the absorption of ionomer's swelling into pore spaces. The nanoporous electrodes demonstrate in-plane swelling of 1–4% at 90 %RH depending on the weight fraction of ionomer. In spite of the macroscopic swelling, the ionomer 30 wt% containing electrode is electrically stable but the ionomer 80 wt% electrode shows 10 times increased electrical resistances. The correlated characteristics reveal that the film has a structural transition from decoupling to coupling between the macroscopic swelling and the electrical resistance depending on the ionomer's binding structure.
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spelling doaj.art-3e668aab698a416593c216d6a60704e42022-12-21T22:08:58ZengElsevierPolymer Testing0142-94182021-08-01100107241Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon filmsJae-Bum Pyo0Sangmin Lee1Taek-Soo Kim2Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, South KoreaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, South KoreaCorresponding author.; Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, South KoreaNanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films are frequently operated in the wet environments when they applied as electrode materials in advanced devices, such as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and electro-active polymer actuators. However, the intrinsic swelling behavior is still concealed because of the challenge in obtaining the film in free-standing form due to its inherent brittleness. Here, we report the pure swelling characteristic of the film under various temperature and humidity by attaining the free-standing film. Mismatched strain is adopted for the separation of the films from the coating substrates. The swelling strain of the free-standing films is measured in-situ by a digital image correlation method. Simultaneously, the electrical resistance is measured by a digital multimeter and it is correlated with the microstructural alteration caused by the swelling. Macroscopic swelling is discovered in contrast to the conventional knowledge that the electrode is dimensionally stable due to the absorption of ionomer's swelling into pore spaces. The nanoporous electrodes demonstrate in-plane swelling of 1–4% at 90 %RH depending on the weight fraction of ionomer. In spite of the macroscopic swelling, the ionomer 30 wt% containing electrode is electrically stable but the ionomer 80 wt% electrode shows 10 times increased electrical resistances. The correlated characteristics reveal that the film has a structural transition from decoupling to coupling between the macroscopic swelling and the electrical resistance depending on the ionomer's binding structure.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941821001914Fuel cellFree-standingIonomerNanoporous filmSwelling
spellingShingle Jae-Bum Pyo
Sangmin Lee
Taek-Soo Kim
Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
Polymer Testing
Fuel cell
Free-standing
Ionomer
Nanoporous film
Swelling
title Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
title_full Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
title_fullStr Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
title_full_unstemmed Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
title_short Intrinsic swelling behavior of free-standing nanoporous ionomer-bound carbon films
title_sort intrinsic swelling behavior of free standing nanoporous ionomer bound carbon films
topic Fuel cell
Free-standing
Ionomer
Nanoporous film
Swelling
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941821001914
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