Project Grant 2154651

Award Date 6/1/22
Completion Date 5/31/25
Dollars Obligated $345K
Funding Federal Agency
National Science Foundation
Awarding Federal Agency
Division of Chemistry
Federal Grant Program
47.049
Assistance Type
Project Grant
Place of Performance
Penn State University, PA 16802, USA

This three-year, $345,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program supports collaborative research between the University of Notre Dame and Pennsylvania State University to investigate ion mobility in aqueous acids, bases, and salts. The researchers will take a fully integrated experimental and theoretical modeling approach to explore ionic mobility at the molecular level and achieve a unified understanding of how counterions and ion-pairing impact the structure, dynamics, and mechanisms of ion transport in aqueous electrolyte solutions. Experimentally, the team will measure diffusion constants via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and use Raman, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to elucidate ion structure, hydration, and proton transfer rates. Theoretical modeling with ab initio molecular dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations will provide complementary insights. The combined experimental and simulation studies aim to elucidate the impact of counterions on proton transport and the roles of solvent-shared and contact ion-pairing in aqueous electrolytes. The research also includes training for graduate and undergraduate students and development of a related high school laboratory experiment.

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