Abstract
ABSTRACTA crosslinked nanofibrous cation exchange membrane with high ion permeability and robust mechanical properties was fabricated by electrospinning. Copolymer, poly(sodium styrene sulfonate‐co‐2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate), was selected as the electrospun material. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H‐nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning electron microscopy were employed to characterize the copolymer and nanofibrous mat. After a series of preliminary experiments, the proper solvents and their ratio, H2O/tetrahydrofuran/N,N′‐dimethylformamide (2/1/3 vol/vol/vol), was selected and the electrospinning optimal parameters were determined by orthogonal experiments. Formaldehyde vapor was employed to crosslink the mat. It was observed that the water sorption decreased from 47.9% to 18.4% as the crosslinking time increased from 20 to 32 h. The robust mat with the high tensile strength of 4.85 MPa and 40% elongation at break was obtained at 28 h. The permselectivities of Na+, K+, and Ca2+ were 89%, 85%, and 81%, respectively. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45541.
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