May 27 – 29, 2013
Paul Scherrer Institut
Europe/Zurich timezone

Nanostructure of the aqueous phase and impact on proton transport in radiation-grafted fuel cell membranes

May 28, 2013, 12:50 PM
30m
WBGB / 19 (PSI)

WBGB / 19

PSI

Speakers

Dr Sandor Balog (Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg)Dr Urs Gasser (PSI / LNS)

Description

We present a SANS study of radiation-grafted fuel cell membranes containing styrenesulfonic acid. The influence of the nano-structure of the aqueous phase on the proton conductivity is studied. We model the structure of the aqueous phase using a stochastic approach and estimate the tortuosity of the aqueous phase via the self-diffusion of a Brownian walker. We find a strong dependence of the tortuosity on the volume fraction of the aqueous phase. The long-range proton diffusion clearly correlates with tortuosity and is found to govern the proton conductivity.

Primary author

Dr Sandor Balog (Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg)

Co-authors

Dr Lorenz Gubler (PSI / ECL) Dr Urs Gasser (PSI / LNS)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.