@misc{e4809057a07c49419dde01f2eab50601,
title = "H3O Radical in Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and Its Role in Membrane Degradation",
abstract = "Based on previous experimental evidence on isotopic substitution, we postulate that the hydronium radical (H3O·) might be present in PEMFCs. Our ab initio modeling indicates that this radical can be stabilized by the sulfonic anion on the polymer sidechain, leading to a greatly reduced reaction barrier in the t-F degradation reaction with the assistance of explicit water by undergoing a sidechain conformational change. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that H3O· could be present in electrochemical devices with both experimental and theoretical support.",
keywords = "fuel cell membrane degradation, H3O radical",
author = "Hai Long and Clara Larson and Frank Coms and Bryan Pivovar and Gregg Dahlke and Michael Yandrasit",
year = "2022",
language = "American English",
series = "Presented at the Gordon Research Conference in Fuel Cells, 24-29 July 2022, Smithfield, Rhode Island",
type = "Other",
}