A novel method for introducing quaternary ammonium-bearing side chains has been developed and applied to a polybenzimidazole backbone to generate new anionic-exchange polymers, TMHA-m-FPBI where m = the degree of substitution of available sites (values ranging from 74 to 100%). These polymers have been shown to exhibit hydroxide ion conductivities up to 34 mS cm-1 in hydrated membranes at ambient temperature and 13 mS cm-1 at 60 °C, RH = 95%. Immersion of these polymers in 2 M KOH at 60 °C has shown they remain stable with no sign of chemical structure degradation to a period of at least 15 days.

Proton conductivity of the natural diatomite was studied by ac complex impedance technique. At room temperature, the highest proton conductivity was found to be 4.5 x 10-7 S·cm-1. By hydrating the diatomite, the proton conductivity was increased to two orders of magnitude higher. The room temperate proton conductivity of the hydrated diatomite (5.5 x 10-5 S·cm-1) was comparable to other hydrated solid proton conductors. The natural diatomite could be used as potential cost-effective proton conductor for electrochemical applications.

Lithium ion batteries are becoming more important because of their high energy density and design flexibility. The capacity of these batteries is usually cathode limited; so, it follows that increasing the capacity of the cathode is essential to raise the performance of such batteries. In this work, fractal dimension study is used to understand the behavior of a Li2TiO3 made by mechanical milling, as a way to improve their uses in energy storage. Digital image analysis allows the study of fractal dimension; X-ray, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis were used to analyze changes on the surface of samples from the current results the distinctive characteristics of the surfaces for each sample may be obtained, making it possible to predict a future behavior of the samples. MATLAB software FRACLAB 2.03 developed by INRIA was used as a tool.

We have studied the electrochemical reduction of CO2 using Cu2O nanoparticles deposited on planar electrodes. Nanoparticles are prepared in aqueous solution by chemical reduction of CuCl2 using ascorbic acid with polyethylene glycol surfactant. The particles are then re-suspended in ethanol with added Nafion binder and brush-coated onto glassy carbon substrates. The CO2 electroreduction activity is measured in KHCO3 electrolyte under flowing CO2 using a two-compartment electrochemical cell. Product formation rates are determined using gas chromatography; major gas phase products include CO, H2, C2H4, and CH4, while liquid phase products include C2H5OH and 1-C3H5OH. The observed product distribution agrees with results obtained previously using similar Cu2O particles deposited on carbon fiber paper supports, as well as Cu2O catalysts prepared by electrodeposition or thermal oxidation. In particular, the catalysts produce a much higher ratio of C2H4 to CH4 than observed using polycrystalline Cu foil. The potential dependence of the formation rates for hydrocarbon and alcohol products is roughly two times greater than for H2 and CO formation. Both XRD and SEM measurements confirm the Cu2O nanoparticles undergo at least partial reduction to Cu metal under CO2 reduction conditions, accompanied by significant surface morphological changes. Thus the kinetic results are consistent with current models that the increased C2H4/CH4 ratio is due to the presence of a more open atomic structure on the freshly reduced Cu surfaces.

The catalytic activity of disordered binary alloy metal surfaces is investigated for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by generating free energy diagrams and performing calculations on d-band centers of alloys. The disorder was simulated using virtual crystal approximation; then, based on periodic, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) methods, we calculated adsorption energies of reaction intermediates. Alternative pathway for ORR mechanism, involving proton/electron transfer to adsorbed oxygen and hydroxyl, is considered. The methodology was applied to (111) surface of PdxCu1-x disordered binary alloys, with different values of x concentration. This study found that at the ORR equilibrium potential of 1.23 V, the reactivity of all surfaces is shown to be limited by the rate of OH removal from the surface. Among the surfaces studied, the surface of Pd0.80Cu0.20 shows the highest reactivity and is more active than other non-Pt alloys. These results are in excellent agreement with earlier experimental and theoretical work.