Composite Polymer Membranes for Energy Conversion

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Selectively permeable separator membranes are central to the development of highly efficient energy conversion devices.They must be structurally durable, even at elevated temperatures, and must facilitate the transport of ions of one charge while inhibiting the transport of opposite charge, thereby minimizing deleterious reactions by spatially segregating the key reactants. This project proposes a two-component route to the development of "composite" polymer electrolyte membranes. We optimize acid group densities by growing polymer "hairs" from nanoparticles and attaching acidic side chains to the hairs. Mixing these functionalized nanoparticles in solvent with a structurally robust, crystallizable polymer and drawing off the solvent in a controlled manner induces a phase separation which produces a durable pore network which encapsulates the functionalized nanoparticles within a rigid polymer matrix. This construction greatly simplifies the material design process by decoupling the materials requirements related to conductivity from the mechanical properties required of the membrane.This project will place the PI for one year in the laboratories of Profs. Gregory Baker and James McCusker (Michigan State University Chemistry), where he will be involved in the synthesis, characterization, and modeling of these novel composite separator membranes. The novel ``L-well'' models that the PI had developed will be used to greatly expedite the membranes optimization to yield higher pore connectivity at lower nanoparticle volume fractions. The membranes will be tested in high temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells and Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). The impact of more efficient energy conversion, particularly of PEM fuel cells for automotive applications and DSSCs for the household market, is potentially profound and could be a transformative event in the push for a sustainable energy infrastructure.