IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-024-55621-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water-mediated ion transport in an anion exchange membrane

Author

Listed:
  • Zhongyang Wang

    (University of Chicago
    The University of Alabama)

  • Ge Sun

    (University of Chicago
    New York University
    New York University
    New York University)

  • Nicholas H. C. Lewis

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Mrinmay Mandal

    (Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Abhishek Sharma

    (University of Chicago
    The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art)

  • Mincheol Kim

    (University of Chicago)

  • Joan M. Montes de Oca

    (University of Chicago)

  • Kai Wang

    (University of Chicago)

  • Aaron Taggart

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Alex B. Martinson

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Paul A. Kohl

    (Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Andrei Tokmakoff

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Shrayesh N. Patel

    (University of Chicago)

  • Paul F. Nealey

    (University of Chicago
    Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Juan J. Pablo

    (University of Chicago
    New York University
    New York University
    New York University)

Abstract

Water is a critical component in polyelectrolyte anion exchange membranes (AEMs). It plays a central role in ion transport in electrochemical systems. Gaining a better understanding of molecular transport and conductivity in AEMs has been challenged by the lack of a general methodology capable of capturing and connecting water dynamics, water structure, and ionic transport over time and length scales ranging from those associated with individual bond vibrations and molecular reorientations to those pertaining to macroscopic AEM performance. In this work, we use two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and semiclassical simulations to examine how water molecules are arranged into successive solvation shells, and we explain how that structure influences the dynamics of bromide ion transport processes in polynorbornene-based materials. We find that the transition to the faster transport mechanism occurs when the reorientation of water molecules in the second solvation shell is fast, allowing a robust hydrogen bond network to form. Our findings provide molecular-level insights into AEMs with inherent transport of halide ions, and help pave the way towards a comprehensive understanding of hydroxide ion transport in AEMs.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhongyang Wang & Ge Sun & Nicholas H. C. Lewis & Mrinmay Mandal & Abhishek Sharma & Mincheol Kim & Joan M. Montes de Oca & Kai Wang & Aaron Taggart & Alex B. Martinson & Paul A. Kohl & Andrei Tokmakof, 2025. "Water-mediated ion transport in an anion exchange membrane," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55621-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55621-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55621-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-55621-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhongyang Wang & Javier Parrondo & Cheng He & Shrihari Sankarasubramanian & Vijay Ramani, 2019. "Efficient pH-gradient-enabled microscale bipolar interfaces in direct borohydride fuel cells," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 281-289, April.
    2. Danielle A. Salvatore & Christine M. Gabardo & Angelica Reyes & Colin P. O’Brien & Steven Holdcroft & Peter Pintauro & Bamdad Bahar & Michael Hickner & Chulsung Bae & David Sinton & Edward H. Sargent , 2021. "Designing anion exchange membranes for CO2 electrolysers," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(4), pages 339-348, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chase L. Radford & Torben Saatkamp & Andrew J. Bennet & Steven Holdcroft, 2024. "An organic proton cage that is ultra-resistant to hydroxide-promoted degradation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Tian, Di & Qu, Zhiguo & Zhang, Jianfei, 2023. "Electrochemical condition optimization and techno-economic analysis on the direct CO2 electroreduction of flue gas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    3. Cornelius A. Obasanjo & Guorui Gao & Jackson Crane & Viktoria Golovanova & F. Pelayo García de Arquer & Cao-Thang Dinh, 2023. "High-rate and selective conversion of CO2 from aqueous solutions to hydrocarbons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Mengran Li & Eric W. Lees & Wen Ju & Siddhartha Subramanian & Kailun Yang & Justin C. Bui & Hugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort & Maryam Abdinejad & Joost Middelkoop & Peter Strasser & Adam Z. Weber & A, 2024. "Local ionic transport enables selective PGM-free bipolar membrane electrode assembly," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Gumaa A. El-Nagar & Flora Haun & Siddharth Gupta & Sasho Stojkovikj & Matthew T. Mayer, 2023. "Unintended cation crossover influences CO2 reduction selectivity in Cu-based zero-gap electrolysers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Yaguang Li & Xianhua Bai & Dachao Yuan & Fengyu Zhang & Bo Li & Xingyuan San & Baolai Liang & Shufang Wang & Jun Luo & Guangsheng Fu, 2022. "General heterostructure strategy of photothermal materials for scalable solar-heating hydrogen production without the consumption of artificial energy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Qinglu Liu & Tang Tang & Ziyu Tian & Shiwen Ding & Linqin Wang & Dexin Chen & Zhiwei Wang & Wentao Zheng & Husileng Lee & Xingyu Lu & Xiaohe Miao & Lin Liu & Licheng Sun, 2024. "A high-performance watermelon skin ion-solvating membrane for electrochemical CO2 reduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55621-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.