High Water Diffusivity in Low Hydration Plasma-Polymerised Proton Exchange Membranes

Abstract

This paper compares proton diffusion through plasma-polymerised proton-exchange membranes (PEMs) produced using traditional wet-chemical methods (NafionR) and those produced using plasma-polymerisation. Using quasielastic neutron scattering and a simple model of proton motion we find the measured diffusion-rate of protons in the plasma-polymerised material and NafionR is the same (within 1 standard error) even though the plasma-polymerised membrane has 80 % less water than the NafionR. We attribute this result to the highly cross-linked structure of the plasma-polymerised membrane. Show more