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

所要求的设备是一个湿度和温度控制室。该设备将是在非常小的尺度上研究超薄离子聚合物(离聚体)的中心，即离聚体膜厚度不到人类头发直径100微米的千分之一。关于这种材料(即离聚体)在这些长度尺度下的性质，人们知之甚少或了解甚少。但对其性质的量化对于许多电化学器件的设计和开发至关重要，这些离聚体在这些器件的电极中以这样的厚度存在。在这些电化学设备中，这些超薄离聚体薄膜最重要的功能特性之一是提供离子(质子传输)。质子的传输是由水来调节的。这些离聚体的质子电导率是温度和相对湿度的函数。这是因为这些薄膜中的水分含量是温度和相对湿度的函数。

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.