Studies on glass fiber-reinforced poly(Ethylene-grafted-styrene)-based cation exchange membrane composite

Authors

Di Huang, Michigan Technological University
Zhichao Chen, Evergreen Technology
Jiann-Yang Hwang, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-8-2020

Department

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

To improve interfacial adhesion between glass fiber (GF) and poly(ethylene-grafted-styrene)-based cation exchange membranes (CEM), GF was modified by four coupling agents: [3-(Methacryloxy)propyl] trimethoxy silane (3-MPS), 1,6-bis (trimethoxysilyl) hexane (1,6 bis), Poly(propylene-graft-maleic anhydride) (PP-g-MA) and Triethoxyvinylsilane (TES). The results indicated the addition of modified GF increased tensile strength, tensile modulus, storage modulus and interfacial adhesion of GF/CEM composite but degraded the strains. The composite with 3-MPS modified GF obtained superior mechanical properties and interfacial adhesion, whereas the modified effect of TES was inconspicuous. The addition of unmodified GF even had negative effects on GF/CEM mechanical properties. The field emission scanning electron microscopes (FE-SEM) showed that the GF treated by 3-MPS and PP-g-MA have better compatibility with the CEM matrix than 1,6 bis and TES-treated GF. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) verified that the strengthening effects from modified GF were attributed to the formation of Si-O-Si and Si-O-C bonds. The additions of modified GF in CEM positively influence water uptake ability but negatively influence ion exchange capacity (IEC). This research provided a way of strengthening GF/CEM composite and pointed out which functional groups included in coupling agents could be useful to GF-reinforced composite.

Publisher's Statement

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13245597

Publication Title

Materials

Recommended Citation

Huang, D., Chen, Z., & Hwang, J. (2020). Studies on glass fiber-reinforced poly(Ethylene-grafted-styrene)-based cation exchange membrane composite. Materials, 13(24), 1-18. http://doi.org/10.3390/ma13245597
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/14552

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Publisher's PDF