Morphological tuning of polymeric nanoparticles via microfluidic platform for fuel cell applications

J Am Chem Soc. 2012 Nov 21;134(46):18904-7. doi: 10.1021/ja307751a. Epub 2012 Nov 6.

Abstract

At nanoscale length scales, the properties of particles change rapidly with the slightest change in dimension. The use of a microfluidic platform enables precise control of sub-100 nm organic nanoparticles (NPs) based on polybenzimidazole. Using hydrodynamic flow focusing, we can control the size and shape of the NPs, which in turn controls a number of particle material properties. The anhydrous proton-conducting nature of the prepared NPs allowed us to make a high-performance ion exchange membrane for fuel cell applications, and microfluidic tuning of the NPs allowed us subsequently to tune the fuel cell performance.

MeSH terms

  • Hydrodynamics
  • Microfluidics*
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Polymers / chemistry*

Substances

  • Polymers