Study of the luminescence from polymeric membrane swollen in water with various content of deuterium; isotopic effects

Abstract

The paper describes the experiments with the irradiation in the near UV range of a swollen surface of Nafion polymer membrane in the grazing-incidence pumping geometry. The pump radiation caused a photoluminescence from the Nafion interface in a certain spectral range. The photoluminescence signal proved to be an important parameter for describing the swelling of the polymer in water. It is shown that luminescence is generated due to the presence of sulfonic groups, anchored to the ends of the perfluorovinyl ether groups forming a tetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) base. The dynamics of Nafion swelling was studied depending on the content of deuterium in water. In the case where the polymer is swollen in water with different deuterium content, isotopic effects appeared to be largely manifested.