The focus of this work is to investigate the wetting and surface energy of carbon-ionomer composites, which can be used in many applications, such as fuel cells, lithium-ion battery, water purification, and so on. Carbon-Nafion composites were fabricated by controlling the Nafion fraction from 5% to 50%. Contact angle of carbon-Nafion composites with different compositions were measured by Kruss DSA 100 surface analyzer at different temperatures (5�C to 100�C), in order to understand the composition and temperature dependence of wetting properties in carbon-Nafion system. Contact angle decreased with increasing the fraction of Nafion until 30%, and then stayed constant. There was a significant decrease of contact angle with decreasing temperature (lower than 20 oC). Surface energy was calculated by using four different theories, which are Acid base, EOS, Wu, and Fowkes. Other characterizations and modifications (profilometer, dynamic light scattering, and force balance analysis) will be included in the further investigation.

Wetting properties and surface energy of carbon-ionomer composites

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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