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NMR Study of Ion Transport in Nanostructured Materials


EMSL Project ID
25603

Abstract

The transport of charged species (protons and cations such as lithium) in nanomaterials is the most critical phenomenon in energy conversion and storage devices such as proton conducting membranes in fuel cells, photovoltaics and batteries. The objective of this proposal is to use EMSL's unique NMR facility to investigate the fundamental mechanism of charge transport in order to optimize the transport kinetics in new nanostructured materials developed at PNNL. NMR provides information on not only the structure and dynamics of the surrounding environments around the protons and cations, but also the kinetics of both local relaxation and long time diffusion of the charged species. Such information can not be obtained from any other techniques and will allow us to gain understanding how the molecular chemistry and environment affect the transport properties. The NMR study is a critical to PNNL's internal investment and to DOE's ongoing projects. PNNL is currently making investment in polymer proton membranes and new electrode materials for batteries. The lab wide materials initiative is the largest, critical investment at PNNL aimed to establish transformational scientific capabilities to address long term DOE challenges in energy and environment. In addition, the NMR study is also critical to ongoing projects in related areas funded by DOE EERE: "Development of Alternative and Durable High Performance Cathode Supports for PEM Fuel Cells."

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2007-05-23
End Date
2010-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Jun Liu
Institution
Yale University

Team Members

Kake Zhu
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Related Publications

Zhu K, JZ Hu, X She, J Liu, Z Nie, Y Wang, CHF Peden, and JH Kwak. 2009. "Characterization of Dispersed Heteropoly Acid on Mesoporous Zeolite Using Solid-State P-31 NMR Spin-Lattice Relaxation." Journal of the American Chemical Society 131(28):9715-9721. doi:10.1021/ja901317r