The effect of relative humidity on the gas permeability and swelling in PFSI membranes

The permeation of helium, oxygen and nitrogen in perfluorosulphonic acid ionomeric (PFSI) membranes with short and long side chains, namely Aquivion® and Nafion® 117, was studied in the relative humidity range between 0 and 90%, and at temperatures between 35 °C and 65 °C. The presence of humidity enhances, up to a factor of 100, the gas permeability in the membranes, due to the permeation of gas molecules in the hydrophilic domains: the enhancement is rather pronounced for O2 and N2, and less marked for He permeability. The relative permeability increase, Pgas/Pgas,0, shows a complex dependence on the relative humidity, as the water content in the membrane is itself a non linear function of this parameter. The water volume fraction in the membrane at each activity was accurately estimated from measurements of vapor-induced swelling, which indicate that the partial molar volume of water is smaller than its pure liquid value, in both membranes at 35 °C. When plotted against water volume fraction, the gas permeability increases exponentially in the range between 2% and 20%; the slope of the curve is higher for Nafion® than for Aquivion®, as it is reasonable due to their different microstructures. The ideal selectivity of the two membranes for He over N2, O2 over N2 and He over O2, decreases markedly with increasing water content in the membrane.

► We measure He, N2 and O2 permeability in Aquivion® and Nafion® at 35 °C and RH< 90%. ► We measure swelling versus RH in both membranes and estimate water volume fraction. ► The gas permeability increases with RH, more markedly for the slower gases N2 and O2. ► The ideal selectivity He/N2, He/O2, O2/N2 decreases with RH. ► The gas permeability enhancement is higher for Nafion® at water volume fractions >15%.