Sorption and permeation of solutions of chloride salts, water and methanol in a Nafion membrane

The sorption of water–methanol mixtures containing a dissolved chloride salt in a Nafion 117 membrane, and their transport through the membrane under the driving force of a pressure gradient, have been studied. Both type of experiments was performed by using five different salts: lithium chloride, sodium chloride, cesium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride. It was observed that both the permeation flow through the membrane and the membrane swelling increase significantly with the methanol content of the solutions. These facts are attributed to the increase in wet membrane porosity, which brings about the increase of the mobility of solvents in the membrane, besides the increase of the mobility of the polymer pendant chains. In contrast, the influence of the type of electrolyte on the membrane porosity and permeability is not very important, with the exception of the CsCl solutions, which is probably due to the small hydration ability of the Cs+ ion.