Wesley Gould with Philip Taylor
The effects of flexible side chains on the behavior of ions within a Nafion membrane
NafionTM membranes have been known for years to hold potential for use in hydrogen fuel cells, as well as in some battery technologies. Currently the inner workings of NafionTM , as used in fuels cells, are not as well understood as would be desired. The water channel model has NafionTM forming parallel networks of approximately cylindrical pores about 2 nm in radius. In previous work, Gould and Taylor simulated the ion concentration and electric potential within these pores and compared them against theoretical predictions. These simulations were done with sulfonate groups arranged in a fixed lattice grid that was not allowed to move. The new work that we propose for the Senior Project is to extend our previous work and to compare it with the recent theoretical predictions of Berg and Findlay [1] The extensions will involve adding the effects of flexible side chains on the behavior of ions within a Nafion membrane. The sulfonates will then no longer be in fixed positions. We also propose to model the current of ions under various conditions of proton concentration gradient and applied field.