Yuan-yuan Zhao, Eiji Tsuchida, Yoong-Kee Choe, Tamio Ikeshoji, Tatsuya Oshima, Masahiro Rikukawa, Akihiro Ohira
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C 120(25) 13398-13405 2016年6月 査読有り
The structural and dynamic properties of a brush-type hydrocarbon copolymer are investigated using first principles molecular dynamics simulations. Two model compounds, one with mainly hydrophilic domains and one with mainly hydrophobic domains, were selected and used in the simulations. A series of radial distribution functions of different groups, such as water-water, sulfonic group-hydrogen, and ether-hydrogen, is obtained to investigate the structure of the whole systems. The radial distribution functions of sulfonic groups, g(s-s)(r), and the structure of water clusters indicate the formation of a well-developed water channel in the studied copolymer. Analysis of proton dissociation reveals that the protons in both systems are not completely dissociated when the number of water molecules per sulfonic group is equal to 4. The low dissociation nature of this copolymer compared with that of Nafion is explained by its intrinsic acid strength and the presence of ineffective hydrogen bonds in the system, where ineffective hydrogen bonds indicate hydrogen bonds that do not contribute strongly to proton transport. The proton conductivity of this copolymer is comparable to that of Nafion, which is ascribed to the formation of good water channels. In addition, the calculated electrical conductivity of the two model compounds shows good agreement with the measured proton conductivity of this copolymer.