Investigation of the Interaction between Nafion Ionomer and Surface Functionalized Carbon Black Using Both Ultrasmall Angle X-ray Scattering and Cryo-TEM

Fan Yang, Le Xin, Aytekin Uzunoglu, Yang Qiu, Lia Stanciu, Jan Ilavsky, Wenzhen Li, Jian Xie*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In making a catalyst ink, the interactions between Nafion ionomer and catalyst support are the key factors that directly affect both ionic conductivity and electronic conductivity of the catalyst layer in a membrane electrode assembly. One of the major aims of this investigation is to understand the behavior of the catalyst support, Vulcan XC-72 (XC-72) aggregates, in the existence of the Nafion ionomer in a catalyst ink to fill the knowledge gap of the interaction of these components. The dispersion of catalyst ink depends not only on the solvent but also on the interaction of Nafion and carbon particles in the ink. The interaction of Nafion ionomer particles and XC-72 catalyst aggregates in liquid media was studied using ultrasmall-angle X-ray scattering and cryogenic TEM techniques. Carbon black (XC-72) and functionalized carbon black systems were introduced to study the interaction behaviors. A multiple curve fitting was used to extract the particle size and size distribution from scattering data. The results suggest that the particle size and size distribution of each system changed significantly in Nafion + XC-72 system, Nafion + NH2-XC72 system, and Nafion + SO3H-XC-72 system, which indicates that an interaction among these components (i.e., ionomer particles and XC-72 aggregates) exists. The cryogenic TEM, which allows for the observation the size of particles in a liquid, was used to validate the scattering results and shows excellent agreement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6530-6538
Number of pages9
JournalACS applied materials & interfaces
Volume9
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Feb 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Chemical Society.

Keywords

  • Nafion ionomer
  • Pt/C catalyst
  • USAXS
  • X-ray scattering
  • catalyst ink
  • cryo-TEM
  • dispersion
  • fuel cell

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