Dry and Wet Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Nafion Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Membrane

The interactions between the hydronium ions and the waters in Nafion® polyelectrolyte membrane are relevant in the proton transfer process of fuel cell. To investigate a role of water in the proton transfer mechanism, molecular dynamic simulations have been performed for models of Nafion® side chains cluster with the water molecules and the hydronium ions comparing with dry system. After simulations, the trajectories were analyzed in term of intermolecular distances, potential energy, and radial distribution function.