Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding
When Nafion swells in water, colloidal particles are repelled from the polymer surface; this effect is called the formation exclusion zone (EZ), and the EZ size amounts to several hundred microns. However, still no one has investigated the EZ formation in a cell whose dimension is close to the EZ si...
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/12/2888 |
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| author | Barry W. Ninham Polina N. Bolotskova Sergey V. Gudkov Yulchi Juraev Mariya S. Kiryanova Valeriy A. Kozlov Roman S. Safronenkov Alexey V. Shkirin Elena V. Uspenskaya Nikolai F. Bunkin |
| author_facet | Barry W. Ninham Polina N. Bolotskova Sergey V. Gudkov Yulchi Juraev Mariya S. Kiryanova Valeriy A. Kozlov Roman S. Safronenkov Alexey V. Shkirin Elena V. Uspenskaya Nikolai F. Bunkin |
| author_sort | Barry W. Ninham |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When Nafion swells in water, colloidal particles are repelled from the polymer surface; this effect is called the formation exclusion zone (EZ), and the EZ size amounts to several hundred microns. However, still no one has investigated the EZ formation in a cell whose dimension is close to the EZ size. It was also shown that, upon swelling in water, Nafion fibers “unwind” into the water bulk. In the case of a cell of limited volume, unwound fibers abut against the cell windows, and water is completely pushed out from the region between the polymer and the cell window, resulting in a cavity appearance. The temporal dynamics of the collapse of this cavity was studied depending on the cell size. It is shown that the cavity formation occurs due to long-range forces between polymer strands. It turned out that this scenario depends on the isotopic composition of the water, ionic additives and water pretreatment. The role of nanobubbles in the formation and collapse of the cavity were analyzed. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the EZ formation is precisely due to the unwinding of polymer fibers into the liquid bulk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:22:42Z |
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| id | doaj.art-c83a7ab3806549f3b9408c9b613016af |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:22:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-c83a7ab3806549f3b9408c9b613016af2023-11-20T23:17:35ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602020-12-011212288810.3390/polym12122888Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers UnwindingBarry W. Ninham0Polina N. Bolotskova1Sergey V. Gudkov2Yulchi Juraev3Mariya S. Kiryanova4Valeriy A. Kozlov5Roman S. Safronenkov6Alexey V. Shkirin7Elena V. Uspenskaya8Nikolai F. Bunkin9Department of Applied Mathematics, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, AustraliaDepartment of Fundamental Sciences, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2-nd Baumanskaya str. 5, 105005 Moscow, RussiaProkhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova str. 38, 119991 Moscow, RussiaDepartment of Theoretical Physics and Quantum Electronics, Samarkand State University, University blv. 15, Samarkand City 140104, UzbekistanDepartment of Fundamental Sciences, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2-nd Baumanskaya str. 5, 105005 Moscow, RussiaDepartment of Fundamental Sciences, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2-nd Baumanskaya str. 5, 105005 Moscow, RussiaDepartment of Fundamental Sciences, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2-nd Baumanskaya str. 5, 105005 Moscow, RussiaProkhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova str. 38, 119991 Moscow, RussiaDepartment of Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemistry, RUDN University, Miklukho-Maklaya str. 6, 117198 Moscow, RussiaDepartment of Fundamental Sciences, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2-nd Baumanskaya str. 5, 105005 Moscow, RussiaWhen Nafion swells in water, colloidal particles are repelled from the polymer surface; this effect is called the formation exclusion zone (EZ), and the EZ size amounts to several hundred microns. However, still no one has investigated the EZ formation in a cell whose dimension is close to the EZ size. It was also shown that, upon swelling in water, Nafion fibers “unwind” into the water bulk. In the case of a cell of limited volume, unwound fibers abut against the cell windows, and water is completely pushed out from the region between the polymer and the cell window, resulting in a cavity appearance. The temporal dynamics of the collapse of this cavity was studied depending on the cell size. It is shown that the cavity formation occurs due to long-range forces between polymer strands. It turned out that this scenario depends on the isotopic composition of the water, ionic additives and water pretreatment. The role of nanobubbles in the formation and collapse of the cavity were analyzed. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the EZ formation is precisely due to the unwinding of polymer fibers into the liquid bulk.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/12/2888swelling of polymerswetting angleNafionFourier transform IR spectroscopydeuterium-depleted water |
| spellingShingle | Barry W. Ninham Polina N. Bolotskova Sergey V. Gudkov Yulchi Juraev Mariya S. Kiryanova Valeriy A. Kozlov Roman S. Safronenkov Alexey V. Shkirin Elena V. Uspenskaya Nikolai F. Bunkin Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding Polymers swelling of polymers wetting angle Nafion Fourier transform IR spectroscopy deuterium-depleted water |
| title | Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding |
| title_full | Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding |
| title_fullStr | Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding |
| title_short | Formation of Water-Free Cavity in the Process of Nafion Swelling in a Cell of Limited Volume; Effect of Polymer Fibers Unwinding |
| title_sort | formation of water free cavity in the process of nafion swelling in a cell of limited volume effect of polymer fibers unwinding |
| topic | swelling of polymers wetting angle Nafion Fourier transform IR spectroscopy deuterium-depleted water |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/12/2888 |
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