Proton Dynamics in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, Sulfonated Polyether Sulfone (SPES): A Computational Study

The nature of proton dynamics in highly hydrated sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) (λ = 67.5) has been studied theoretically by means of quantum chemical calculations and first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Comparison of results on SPES with those on Nafion shows that, in highly hydrated case, the nature of proton dynamics in both membranes is very similar, exhibiting remarkable contribution of the Grötthuss type proton transport.