Rs. Chen et al., STUDIES OF WATER IN NAFION MEMBRANES - USING DEUTERON AND O-17 NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE, AND DIELECTRIC-RELAXATION TECHNIQUES, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 140(4), 1993, pp. 889-895
Deuteron and oxygen-17 nuclear magnetic resonance measurements and die
lectric relaxation studies of Nation-117 membranes with variable water
content (approximately 5-18% by weight) have been carried out. Glassy
behavior of the water domains at low temperature, below ca. 200 K, is
evidenced by the specific nature of the H-2 NMR line shapes. Activati
on energies extracted from H-2 spin-lattice relaxation data on the hig
h temperature side of the T1 minimum exhibit a steady increase with in
creasing water content. In spite of a high degree of molecular mobilit
y, angular-dependent spectra in both as-received and stretched samples
reflect considerable anisotropy of the host polymer. A dielectric los
s peak is observed which previously has been attributed to the glass t
ransition of the aqueous domains.