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Cation exchange membranes by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of styrene onto PFA copolymer films. IV. Morphological investigations using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Nasef, Mohamed Mahmoud and Saidi, Hamdani and Yormo, Mohd Ambar (2000) Cation exchange membranes by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of styrene onto PFA copolymer films. IV. Morphological investigations using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 77 . pp. 2455-2463.

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Abstract

Morphological investigations of poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluorovinyl ether) (PFA)-g-polystyrene sulfonic acid membranes prepared by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of styrene onto PFA films followed by sulfonation were performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analyzed materials included grafted film and sulfonated membrane samples having various degrees of grafting. Original PFA film was used as a reference material. The results of the X-ray photoelectron spectral analysis show that PFA film undergoes changes in terms of chemical compositions and binding energies of its basic elemental components under the influence of membrane preparation procedure, i.e., grafting and sulfonation. The chemical compositions of the surfaces of the membranes were found to be dependent on the degree of grafting unlike the binding energies of their elemental components (C, F, O, and S), which were found to be independent of the degree of grafting. The atomic ratio of F/C was found to decrease drastically with the increase in the degree of grafting and the membranes were found to have almost pure hydrocarbon structure at the layers close to their surfaces where degradation is suggested to be concentrated. The results of these investigations suggest that the morphology of the membranes plays an important role in the chemical degradation of the membranes.

Item Type:Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:cation exchange membranes; radiation-induced graft copolymerization; styrene; PFA films; XPS
Subjects:T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions:Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering
ID Code:3768
Deposited By: Sharifah Rafidah Wan Alwi
Deposited On:21 Jun 2007 09:34
Last Modified:01 Jun 2010 03:12

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