SUMMER RESEARCH TRAINING IN MEMBRANE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2008 NSF REU SITE PROGRAM at the UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
The Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, College of Engineering is pleased to offer this research project as part of the 2008 summer NSF-REU Site Program administered by the Department of Pharmacology & Cell Biophysics.  Students interested in this project are urged to contact Professor Fried to discover more about the project, learn what your responsibilities will be during the ten-week research training program.
Project #:  08 – 006a        Faculty Supervisor/Mentor: Joel R. Fried, Ph.D., Professor, Chemical and Materials Engineering and Genome Science (GRI), College of Engineering Email: joel.fried@uc.edu
Proton Transfer in Phosphoric Acid-Based Fuel Cell Membranes
General background and significance of the project: Proton transfer (PT) is essential for the functioning of all biological organisms and to such critical technological applications as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for fuel cell use, where high proton conductivity is the controlling property.
Brief description of proposed research and activities for the 10-week REU period: The REU student will work with a graduate student on a project funded by the American Chemical Society (Petroleum Research Fund) to use molecular dynamics and hybrid quantum chemical methods to explore the nature of PT in several phosphoric acid-based systems including polybenzimidazoles and novel acid–base complexes. An objective of this research project is to understand factors that contribute to high proton conductivity for PEMs that can operate in the temperature range from 120°Ç to 200°C. Computational facilities, available through support of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, will be used in the conduct of this research project.
What the REU Student can gain from participating in this project: Significant contributions made by the REU student will result in co-authorship on conference presentations and papers, and peer-reviewed articles arising from the research.