The perfluorosulfonic acid(PFSA) membrane doped with two-dimensional conductive filler Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) is a fuel cell proton exchange membrane with high application potential. Experimental studies showed that the pro...The perfluorosulfonic acid(PFSA) membrane doped with two-dimensional conductive filler Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) is a fuel cell proton exchange membrane with high application potential. Experimental studies showed that the proton conductivity of Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) composite membrane is improved significantly compared with that in pure Nafion. However, the microscopic mechanism of doping on the enhancement of membrane performance is remain unclear now. In this work, molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the microscopic morphology and proton transport behaviors of Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) composite membrane at the molecular level. The results shown that there were significant differences about the diffusion kinetics of water molecules and hydroxium ions in Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) at low and high hydration levels in the nanoscale region.With the increase of water content, Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) in membrane was gradually surrounded by ambient water molecules to form a hydration layer, and forming a relatively continuous proton transport channel between Nafion polymer and Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) monomer. The continuous proton transport channel could increase the number of binding sites of proton and thus achieving high proton conductivity and high mobility of water molecules at higher hydration level. The current work can provide a theoretical guidance for designing new type of Nafion composite membranes.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos.2020YFB1505500 and 2020YFB1505503)。
文摘The perfluorosulfonic acid(PFSA) membrane doped with two-dimensional conductive filler Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) is a fuel cell proton exchange membrane with high application potential. Experimental studies showed that the proton conductivity of Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) composite membrane is improved significantly compared with that in pure Nafion. However, the microscopic mechanism of doping on the enhancement of membrane performance is remain unclear now. In this work, molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the microscopic morphology and proton transport behaviors of Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) composite membrane at the molecular level. The results shown that there were significant differences about the diffusion kinetics of water molecules and hydroxium ions in Nafion/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) at low and high hydration levels in the nanoscale region.With the increase of water content, Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) in membrane was gradually surrounded by ambient water molecules to form a hydration layer, and forming a relatively continuous proton transport channel between Nafion polymer and Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) monomer. The continuous proton transport channel could increase the number of binding sites of proton and thus achieving high proton conductivity and high mobility of water molecules at higher hydration level. The current work can provide a theoretical guidance for designing new type of Nafion composite membranes.
