Abstract
The effect of crosslinking on vapor permeation behavior of polyelectrolyte membranes was studied. Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) membranes were crosslinked by using crosslinkers with different lengths between the reactive ends. Crosslinked membranes with a longer crosslinking length showed lower water vapor permeability due to the lower sorption coefficient. It was also shown that the permeation behavior of PAMPS membranes was more affected by sorption than diffusion. For chemical protection applications, the ratio of water over chemical warfare agent permeability (i.e., selectivity) was measured. Due to the high water solubility of polyelectrolytes, crosslinked PAMPS allowed for the selective permeation of water over harmful chemical vapor, showing a selectivity of 20. The addition of electrospun nylon nanofibers in the membranes significantly improved the selectivity to 80, since the embedded nanofibers effectively reduced both diffusion and sorption coefficients of chemical warfare agents.
Highlights
One of the key properties of polymer membranes is to control the permeation behavior of various chemical species through the membrane
Dimethyl methylphophonate (DMMP), is more disturbed by the introduction of nanofillers compared to water permeation, resulting in a high selectivity of crosslinked Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) membranes containing nylon nanofibers
Electrospun nanofibers were introduced in the crosslinked PAMPS membranes to control permeability and selectivity
Summary
One of the key properties of polymer membranes is to control the permeation behavior of various chemical species through the membrane. The selective permeation between two permeants is determined by the sorption and diffusion selectivity For polymer membranes, their free volume and functional groups can be the critical factors to control selective permeation behaviors. The high water solubility and low mechanical properties of PAMPS limit its wide applications, and these have been solved by blending polymers and crosslinking [19,20,21,22]. Nanofibers are a good candidate for nanofillers of composite membranes since their large surface area and porosity can control selective permeations and mechanical properties. Nanofiber-embedded PAMPS membranes were prepared to control permeability, and their selectivity was studied for chemical protection applications
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