Proton activity in nafion films. Probing exchangeable protons with methylene blue

A simple approach to monitor the H+ activity of a proton-exchange membrane (Nafion) is introduced by incorporating methylene blue as an indicator dye. The dye exhibits characteristics absorption maxima at 665 and 745 nm corresponding to its singly and doubly protonated forms, respectively. The apparent proton activity of Nafion as monitored from the appearance of doubly protonated methylene blue absorption is equivalent to 1.2 M H2SO4. By monitoring the spectral changes associated with the protonation equilibrium of the dye, it is possible to probe the rate and the exchangeable proton sites within the Nafion film. For the Nafion 117 film, we estimate the total exchangeable proton sites to be 2.5 × 1019 sites/cm2 or 4.2 × 10-5 mols/cm2. The equilibrium constant for the H+/Na+ exchange for the bound sites is determined to be 2.2. The feasibility of methylene blue as a probe to monitor proton activity during the operation of a direct methanol fuel cell has been explored.