Humidity- and Temperature-Controlled Chamber for Conductivity and Water Uptake Measurements of Nanometers Thin Ionomer Films

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The requested equipment is a humidity- and temperature-controlled chamber. The equipment will be central for the study of ultra-thin ionic polymers (ionomers) at very small scales - i.e., ionomer film thicknesses of less than one-thousandth times that of a human hair, which is 100 microns in diameter. Very little is known or understood about the properties of this class of material (i.e. ionomers) at these length scales. But quantification of its properties are crucial for design and development of many electrochemical devices where these ionomers exist at such thicknesses in the electrodes of these devices. One of the most important functional properties of these ultra-thin ionomer films in these electrochemical devices is to provide ion (proton transport). The proton transport is mediated by water. The protonic conductivity of these ionomers is a function of temperature and relative humidity. This is because the water content in these films is a function of temperature and relative humidity.