Composite Polymer Membranes for Energy Conversion

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。选择性渗透隔膜是开发高效能量转换装置的核心。它们必须在结构上耐用，即使在高温下，并且必须促进一个电荷离子的传输，同时抑制相反电荷的传输，从而通过空间隔离关键反应物来最小化有害反应。本项目提出了“复合”聚合物电解质膜的双组分发展路线。我们通过从纳米颗粒中生长聚合物“毛发”并将酸性侧链附着在毛发上来优化酸基密度。将这些功能化纳米粒子与结构坚固、可结晶的聚合物混合在溶剂中，并以可控的方式抽离溶剂，诱导相分离，产生持久的孔隙网络，将功能化纳米粒子封装在刚性聚合物基质中。这种结构通过将与导电性相关的材料要求与膜的机械性能要求解耦，大大简化了材料设计过程。该项目将在教授的实验室进行为期一年的PI研究。Gregory Baker和James McCusker（密歇根州立大学化学系），他将参与这些新型复合隔膜的合成、表征和建模。PI开发的新型“l孔”模型将大大加快膜的优化，在较低的纳米颗粒体积分数下产生更高的孔连通性。这些膜将在高温聚合物电解质膜（PEM）燃料电池和染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSCs）中进行测试。更有效的能源转换，特别是用于汽车的PEM燃料电池和用于家庭市场的DSSCs，可能会产生深远的影响，并可能成为推动可持续能源基础设施的变革事件。

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.