Project Info

Ionomer interactions for Water Electrolysis

Andy Herring
aherring@mines.edu

Project Goals and Description:

This is part of the Energy Earth Shot Research Center, Center for Ionomer Interventions in Water Electrolysis (CIWE)  led by LBNL.  The goals of this project are to gain fundamental understanding of polymer/polymer and polymer/catalyst interfaces important to polymer electrolyte based water electrolysis.  The ultimate goal of this research is the DOE goal of the production of Hydrogen at 1$/1 Kg by 2030.

More Information:

Grand Challenge: Not applicable.
  1. “Investigation of Ionomer and Catalyst (Co3O4, Mn3O4, or MnO2) Interactions Using a Polyethylene Midblock Copolymer in Anion Exchange Water Electrolyzers to Understand Performance and Durability.” Kim, M.J. Salgado, J.L. Hawks, J.W. Creel, K.C. Dunn, K.J. Beiler, I. Wu, M.-C. Kuo, and A.M. Herring, J. Electrochem. Soc., in press, February 2024. https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ad2cbe
  2. “Effects of Hydrophobic Block Length Ratio of Poly(vinylbenzyl N-methylpiperidinium carbonate)-b-polyethylene-b-poly(vinylbenzyl N-methylpiperidinium carbonate) Block Copolymers for Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysis.” Wu, K.C. Dunn, J.W. Creel, A.N. Radzanowski, K.J. Beiler, M.S. Ezell, A.M. Johnson, D.J. Carmosino, M.J. Salgado, M.-C. Kuo, N.C. Buggy, S. Seifert, E.B. Coughlin, and A.M. Herring,* ACS Appl. Poly. Mater., 2023, 5, 5834 – 5845. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.3c00414
  3. “Evaluating the Effect of Ionomer Chemical Composition in Silver-Ionomer Catalyst Inks toward the Oxygen Evolution Reaction by Half-Cell Measurements and Water Electrolysis.” N.C. Buggy, I. Wu, Y. Du, R. Ghosh, M.-C. Kuo, M.S. Ezell, J.M. Crawford, S. Seifert, M.A. Carreon, E.B. Coughlin, A.M. Herring,* Electrochimica Acta., 2022, 412, 140124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2022.140124
  4. “A Polyethylene-based Triblock Copolymer Anion Exchange Membrane with High Conductivity and Practical Mechanical Properties.” N.C. Buggy, Y. Du, M.-C. Kuo, K.A. Ahrens, J.S. Wilkinson, S. Seifert, E.B. Coughlin,* and A.M. Herring*,
    ACS Appl. Poly. Mater.,2020,2, 1294 – 1303.
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.9b01182

Primary Contacts:

Andrew M. Herring, Mei-Chen Kuo, Alana Sweeney, Marco Salgado

Student Preparation

Qualifications

Basic undergraduate  chemistry or physics laboratory skills

TIME COMMITMENT (HRS/WK)

4

SKILLS/TECHNIQUES GAINED

A basic knowledge of electrochemical engineering, membrane preparation and polymer physical chemistry.

MENTORING PLAN

Undergraduates work on projects in my laboratory in Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) teams of 5-6 students.  The teams works to produce data suitable for publication  peer reviewed journals.  The writing is usually led by a graduate student, but the VIP team works independently led by senior undergraduates students. All students are expected to present regularly at group meetings and to attend project meetings as needed.

Preferred Student Status

Sophomore
Junior
Senior
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