Determination of the diffusion coefficient of protons in Nafion thin films by ac-electrogravimetry

Covalent Benzenesulfonic Functionalization of a Graphene Nanopore for Enhanced and Selective Proton Transport

A fundamental understanding of proton transport through graphene nanopores, defects, and vacancies is essential for advancing two-dimensional proton exchange membranes (PEMs). This study employs ReaxFF molecular dynamics, metadynamics, and density functional theory to investigate the enhanced proton transport through a graphene nanopore. Covalently functionalizing the nanopore with a benzenesulfonic group yields consistent improvements in proton permeability, with a lower activation barrier (≈0.15 eV) and increased proton selectivity over sodium cations. The benzenesulfonic functionality acts as a dynamic proton shuttle, establishing a favorable hydrogen-bonding network and an efficient proton transport channel. The model reveals an optimal balance between proton permeability and selectivity, which is essential for effective proton exchange membranes. Notably, the benzenesulfonic-functionalized graphene nanopore system achieves a theoretically estimated proton diffusion coefficient comparable to or higher than the current state-of-the-art PEM, Nafion. Ergo, the benzenesulfonic functionalization of graphene nanopores, firmly holds promise for future graphene-based membrane development in energy conversion devices.

Hydrocarbon Ionomeric Binders for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers

Ionomeric binders in catalyst layers, abbreviated as ionomers, play an essential role in the performance of polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers. Due to environmental issues associated with perfluoroalkyl substances, alternative hydrocarbon ionomers have drawn substantial attention over the past few years. This review surveys literature to discuss ionomer requirements for the electrodes of fuel cells and electrolyzers, highlighting design principles of hydrocarbon ionomers to guide the development of advanced hydrocarbon ionomers.

Conduction Mechanism in Graphene Oxide Membranes with Varied Water Content: From Proton Hopping Dominant to Ion Diffusion Dominant

Proton conductors, particularly hydrated solid membranes, have various applications in sensors, fuel cells, and cellular biological systems. Unraveling the intrinsic proton transfer mechanism is critical for establishing the foundation of proton conduction. Two scenarios on electrical conduction, the Grotthuss and the vehicle mechanisms, have been reported by experiments and simulations. But separating and quantifying the contributions of these two components from experiments is difficult. Here, we present the conductive behavior of a two-dimensional layered proton conductor, graphene oxide membrane (GOM), and find that proton hopping is dominant at low water content, while ion diffusion prevails with increasing water content. This change in the conduction mechanism is attributable to the layers of water molecules in GOM nanosheets. The overall conductivity is greatly improved by forming one layer of water molecules. It reaches the maximum with two layers of water molecules, resulting from creating a complete hydrogen-bond network within GOM. When more than two layers of water molecules enter the GOM nanosheets, inducing the breakage of the ordered lamellar structure, protons spread in both in-plane and out-of-plane directions inside the GOM. Our results validate the existence of two conduction mechanisms and show their distinct contributions to the overall conductivity. Furthermore, these findings provide an optimization strategy for the design of realizing the fast proton transfer in materials with water participation.

Solid State NMR Spectroscopy a Valuable Technique for Structural Insights of Advanced Thin Film Materials: A Review

Solid-state NMR has proven to be a versatile technique for studying the chemical structure, 3D structure and dynamics of all sorts of chemical compounds. In nanotechnology and particularly in thin films, the study of chemical modification, molecular packing, end chain motion, distance determination and solvent-matrix interactions is essential for controlling the final product properties and applications. Despite its atomic-level research capabilities and recent technical advancements, solid-state NMR is still lacking behind other spectroscopic techniques in the field of thin films due to the underestimation of NMR capabilities, availability, great variety of nuclei and pulse sequences, lack of sensitivity for quadrupole nuclei and time-consuming experiments. This article will comprehensively and critically review the work done by solid-state NMR on different types of thin films and the most advanced NMR strategies, which are beyond conventional, and the hardware design used to overcome the technical issues in thin-film research.

On the Conductivity of Proton-Exchange Membranes Based on Multiblock Copolymers of Sulfonated Polysulfone and Polyphenylsulfone: An Experimental and Modeling Study

The effect of relative humidity (RH) and degree of sulfonation (DS) on the ionic conductivity and water uptake of proton-exchange membranes based on sulfonated multiblock copolymers composed of polysulfone (PSU) and polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) is examined experimentally and numerically. Three membranes with a different DS and ion-exchange capacity are analyzed. The heterogeneous structure of the membranes shows a random distribution of sulfonated (hydrophilic) and non-sulfonated (hydrophobic) domains, whose proton conductivity is modeled based on percolation theory. The mesoscopic model solves simplified Nernst-Planck and charge conservation equations on a random cubic network. Good agreement is found between the measured ionic conductivity and water uptake and the model predictions. The ionic conductivity increases with RH due to both the growth of the hydrated volume available for conduction and the decrease of the tortuosity of ionic transport pathways. Moreover, the results show that the ionic conductivity increases nonlinearly with DS, experiencing a strong rise when the DS is varied from 0.45 to 0.70, even though the water uptake of the membranes remains nearly the same. In contrast, the increase of the ionic conductivity between DS=0.70 and DS=0.79 is significantly lower, but the water uptake increases sharply. This is explained by the lack of microphase separation of both copolymer blocks when the DS is exceedingly high. Encouragingly, the copolymer membranes demonstrate a similar performance to Nafion under well hydrated conditions, which can be further optimized by a combination of numerical modeling and experimental characterization to develop new-generation membranes with better properties.

Control of Edge/in-Plane Interactions toward Robust, Highly Proton Conductive Graphene Oxide Membranes

Graphene oxide (GO) membrane, bearing well-aligned interlayer nanochannels and well-defined physicochemical properties, promises fast proton transport. However, the deficiency of proton donor groups on the basal plane of GO and weak interlamellar interactions between the adjacent nanosheets often cause low proton conduction capability and poor water stability. Herein, we incorporate sulfonated graphene quantum dots (SGQD) into  GO membrane to solve the above dilemma via synergistically controlling the edge electrostatic interaction and in-plane π-π interaction of SGQD with GO nanosheets. SGQD with three different kinds of electron-withdrawing groups are employed to modulate the edge electrostatic interactions and improve the water swelling resistant property of GO membranes. Meanwhile, SGQD with abundant proton donor groups assemble on the sp² domain of GO via in-plane π-π interaction and confer the GO membranes with low-energy-barrier proton transport channels. As a result, the GO membrane achieves an enhanced proton conductivity of 324 mS cm^-1, maximum power density of 161.6 mW cm^-2, and superior water stability when immersed into water for one month. This study demonstrates a strategy for independent manipulation of conductive function and nonconductive function to fabricate high-performance proton exchange membranes.

Impact of the Solid Interface on Proton Conductivity in Nafion Thin Films

Proton conductivity of polyelectrolytes in the interfacial region with a solid is key to the performance of polyelectrolyte-based fuel cells. The proton conductivity of Nafion thin films was examined as a function of the thickness along both directions, normal and parallel to the interface. Neutron reflectivity measurements revealed that a water-containing multilamellar structure was formed at the substrate interface. The presence of the interfacial layer, or the two-dimensional proton-conductive pathway, suppressed and enhanced the out-of-plane and in-plane proton conductivities, respectively. The method of proton conductivity in the interfacial region differed from that in the bulk, namely, the Grotthuss mechanism. Using laminated films, we conclude by showing that the proton conductivity in the Nafion thin film changes on the basis of the interface-to-volume ratio. This knowledge will be helpful for the design of devices containing polyelectrolytes with solid materials.

Proton-Conductivity Enhancement in Polymer Thin Films

Highly proton conductive polymers have long attracted the attention of researchers for use in energy conversion, sensors, catalysts, and other applications. From the viewpoint of the scientific history of the creation of highly proton conductive polymers, one fundamental approach is based on the strategy of phase-segregated structures with strong acid groups. This Feature Article presents a new approach to enhancing the proton conductivity of the polymer thin films using an interface that can modify the degrees of freedom for a polymer structure through interaction between the substrate surface and polymers. I introduce suppressed proton conductivity into Nafion thin films and then specifically examine the enhancement in proton conductivity by the molecular orientation of the polymers. As the last topic, a highly proton conductive organized polyimide thin film is demonstrated using the lyotropic liquid-crystal property. Both molecular ordering and the in-plane oriented structure can enhance proton conductivity. Moreover, the optical domain and degree of molecular ordering derived from the molecular weight can contribute strongly to the proton transport property.

Nanodiffusion in electrocatalytic films

In the active interest aroused by electrochemical reactions' catalysis, related to modern energy challenges, films deposited on electrodes are often preferred to homogeneous catalysts. A particularly promising variety of such films, in terms of efficiency and selectivity, is offered by sprinkling catalytic nanoparticles onto a conductive network. Coupled with the catalytic reaction, the competitive occurrence of various modes of substrate diffusion-diffusion toward nanoparticles ('nanodiffusion') against film linear diffusion and solution linear diffusion-is analysed theoretically. It is governed by a dimensionless parameter that contains all the experimental factors, thus allowing one to single out the conditions in which nanodiffusion is the dominant mode of mass transport. These theoretical predictions are illustrated experimentally by proton reduction on a mixture of platinum nanoparticles and carbon dispersed in a Nafion film deposited on a glassy carbon electrode. The density of nanoparticles and the scan rate are used as experimental variables to test the theory.

In situ solid-state electrochemistry of mass-selected ions at well-defined electrode-electrolyte interfaces

Molecular-level understanding of electrochemical processes occurring at electrode-electrolyte interfaces (EEIs) is key to the rational development of high-performance and sustainable electrochemical technologies. This article reports the development and application of solid-state in situ thin-film electrochemical cells to explore redox and catalytic processes occurring at well-defined EEIs generated using soft-landing (SL) of mass- and charge-selected cluster ions. In situ cells with excellent mass-transfer properties are fabricated using carefully designed nanoporous ionic liquid membranes. SL enables deposition of pure active species that are not obtainable with other techniques onto electrode surfaces with precise control over charge state, composition, and kinetic energy. SL is, therefore, demonstrated to be a unique tool for studying fundamental processes occurring at EEIs. Using an aprotic cell, the effect of charge state ([Formula: see text]) and the contribution of building blocks of Keggin polyoxometalate (POM) clusters to redox processes are characterized by populating EEIs with POM anions generated by electrospray ionization and gas-phase dissociation. Additionally, a proton-conducting cell has been developed to characterize the oxygen reduction activity of bare Pt clusters (Pt₃₀ ∼1 nm diameter), thus demonstrating the capability of the cell for probing catalytic reactions in controlled gaseous environments. By combining the developed in situ electrochemical cell with ion SL we established a versatile method to characterize the EEI in solid-state redox systems and reactive electrochemistry at precisely defined conditions. This capability will advance the molecular-level understanding of processes occurring at EEIs that are critical to many energy-related technologies.

Proton Diffusion Coefficient in Electrospun Hybrid Membranes by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was, for the first time, used to estimate the global transverse proton diffusion coefficient, D(H+)(EHM), in electrospun hybrid conducting membranes (EHMs). In contrast to conventional impedance spectroscopy, EIS measurements were performed at room temperature with a liquid interface. In this configuration, the measure of the bulk proton transport is influenced by the kinetics of the transfer of proton at the solid/liquid interface. We demonstrated that the use of additives in the process of the membrane impacts the organization of the hydrophilic domains and also the proton transport. The D(H+)(EHM) is close to 1.10(-7) cm(2) s(-1) (± 0.1.10(-7) cm(2) s(-1)) for the EHMs without additive, whereas it is 4.10(-6) cm(2) s(-1) (± 0.4.10(-6) cm(2) s(-1)) for EHMs with additives.

Ion intercalation dynamics of electrosynthesized mesoporous WO3 thin films studied by multi-scale coupled electrogravimetric methods

Mesoporous WO₃ thin films were prepared electrochemically by using an ionic surfactant during the synthesis, and the electrochemical properties are investigated in comparison with their dense analogues.

Elucidating Water Transport Mechanisms in Nafion Thin Films

Ion-exchange membranes are critical components of hydrogen fuel cells, where these ionomers can be confined to nanoscale thicknesses, altering the physical properties of these films from that of bulk membranes. Therefore, it is important to develop methods capable of measuring and elucidating the transport mechanisms under thin film confinement compared to bulk Nafion. In this study, water sorption and diffusion in a Nafion thin film were measured using time-resolved in situ polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). Interfacial mass transport limitations were confirmed to be minimal, while restricted water diffusion was observed, where the effective diffusion coefficient of water in the thin Nafion film was many orders of magnitude lower (between 4 and 5 orders of magnitude) than those reported for bulk membranes and was dependent on the initial hydration state of the Nafion. Furthermore, the response of the hydrophobic domains (Teflon backbone) to the swelling of the hydrophilic domains (ionic clusters) was shown to be orders of magnitude slower than that of bulk Nafion.