(Industrial Electrochemistry & Electrochemical Engineering Division Student Achievement Award) Anhydrous High-Proton Conductor Based on Ionic Nanopeapods

TL;DRAbstract

Here we describe, significant improvement in electrochemical performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) via incorporation of superacid-filled single wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs), called ionic nanopeapod. It has been shown that capillary filling of carbon nanotubes is an effective method to alter their physical characteristics. Here and for the first time, we describe that there is a lot of room for development through modification of the interior space of CNT by tuning its ionic nature to boost the proton transport inside the CNT with or without the presence of water molecules. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images confirm the successful modification of the interior space of CNTs. The molecular dynamic simulations revealed that anisotropic alignment of ions/water molecules inside the carbon nanotubes makes wire-like proton chains that can facilitate ionic conductivitions with very low humidity dependency. The experimental results confirm these

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