Communication: Nanoscale ion fluctuations in Nafion polymer electrolyte
2014
Ion conduction mechanisms and the nanostructure of ion conduction networks remain poorly understood in polymer electrolytes which are used as proton-exchange-membranes (PEM) in fuel cell applications. Here we study nanoscale surface-potential fluctuations produced by Brownian ion dynamics in thin films of low-hydration Nafion™, the prototype PEM. Images and power spectra of the fluctuations are used to derive the local conductivity-relaxation spectrum, in order to compare with bulk behavior and hopping-conductivity models. Conductivity relaxation-times ranged from hours to milliseconds, depending on hydration and temperature, demonstrating that the observed fluctuations are produced by water-facilitated hydrogen-ion hopping within the ion-channel network. Due to the small number of ions probed, non-Gaussian statistics of the fluctuations can be used to constrain ion conduction parameters and mechanisms.
Keywords:
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
32
References
7
Citations
NaN
KQI