Hybrids of perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer and silicon oxide by sol-gel reaction from solution: Morphology and thermal analysis

NAFION(R)/silicon oxide hybrids were prepared from solution by hydrolysis/polycondensation of alkoxy silanes. Transparent, but brittle films were obtained when TEOS was used as the inorganic polymer precursor, showing a lamellar structure by transmission electron microscopy. Part of the TEOS was substituted by TMDES to increase the film flexibility. For substitution higher than 10% phase separation was clearly observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal analysis of NAFION(R) and hybrids with different inorganic contents showed two main endothermic transitions, one assigned to the NAFION(R) ionic clusters and the other to the melting of the perfluorinated matrix. The cluster transition temperature decreases as the TEOS content increases up to 50 wt%, but than increases as the TEOS content reaches 80 wt%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.