Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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FM: Fachverband Funktionsmaterialien
FM 2: Energy Materials
FM 2.4: Talk
Monday, March 9, 2026, 10:30–10:45, BEY/0138
Metal Poisoning of Nafion Proton Exchange Membrane — •Souvik Mitra1, Jialiang Liu1, Kristina Fröhlich1, Simone Köcher1,2, Christoph Scheurer2,1, and Rüdiger-A. Eichel1 — 1IET-1, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, DE — 2Fritz-Haber-Institute der MPG, 14195 Berlin, DE
Metal-ion contamination of Nafion proton-exchange membranes (PEMs) remains a persistent durability and performance issue in PEM fuel cells. Metal cations originating from insufficiently deionized feed water, coolant leaks, or corrosion of metallic cell components can exchange with protons at the sulfonate groups (SO3−) of Nafion, thereby reducing proton conductivity and overall cell performance.
In this work, we combine atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with in-plane conductivity measurements to build a consistent picture of how a broad series of mono-, di-, and trivalent cations affect transport in Nafion under comparable conditions. For monovalent ions (Li+, Na+, and K+), our study reveals a reversal of the familiar mobility trend of these cations in the presence of Nafion membrane compared to bulk water, reflecting the competition between ion hydration and specific binding to the SO3− groups of Nafion. Our study also shows that, as cation charge increases from +1 to +2 to +3, their mobility drops significantly, correlating with longer residence times at sulfonate sites and increasingly multidentate SO3− coordination.
Our study highlights the strengths of simulations in elucidating the atomistic origin of diffusivity trends, but also their challenges in making reasonable physical approximations.
Keywords: Molecular Dynamics; Nafion; Fuel cell; Metal Poisoning