Modeling and Characterization of Mesoscale Structures in Proton Conducting Materials
Ryan Hayward (Polymer Science & Engineering) and Peter Monson (Chemical Engineering)

Obtaining efficient and selective transport of protons is critical to the operation of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells.  While these demands present a significant challenge for the design of new PEM materials, it is clear that an important aspect is obtaining co-continuous nano-scale phase separation between proton-conducting domains and insulating structural domains.  This collaborative project seeks to develop a systematic relationship between polymer architecture, structure on the mesoscale (i.e., 2 – 50 nm), and PEM performance.

Lamellar structure from a Monte Carlo simulation of a comb polymer with proton conducting groups (green) at the end of the side chains.

Morphological characterization: A student in Hayward’s lab will perform X-ray scattering, optical microscopy, and thermal analysis of novel PEM materials.

Theoretical modeling: A student in Monson’s lab will carry out Monte Carlo simulations of coarse grained models of polymer architectures for the PEM materials to determine the mesoscale structure

Collaborative effort: The REU students will work together to correlate the predictions obtained via simulations with the measured structural results.

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