Proton Transport Property in Supported Nafion Nanothin Films by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

The proton transport property of Nafion nanothin films (4-300 nm) has been investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using interdigitated array (IDA) of gold electrodes on SiO2 substrate. The proton conductivity has been investigated as a function of film drying/heating protocol, relative humidity, temperature and film thickness. It is found that the film treatment protocol makes a difference in film transport property. Ultimately, the proton conductivity and capacitance of the Nafion nanothin film is thickness-dependent, where the former decreased and the latter increased exponentially with decreasing film thickness. Moreover, the activation energy increased exponentially with decreasing film thickness. The proton conductivity of the thin films of Nafion is significantly lower than that of the membrane counterpart regardless of the thickness, which is consistent with the high activation energy found in the thin films. These differences are likely related to the polymer confinement and morphological differences between the thin films and the freestanding membrane. (C) The Author(s) 2014. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.