Polymer systems have typical multiscale characteristics, both in space and time. The mesoscopic properties of polymers are difficult to describe through traditional experimental approaches. Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) is a simulation method used for solving mesoscale problems of complex fluids and soft matter. The mesoscopic properties of polymer systems, such as conformation, dynamics, and transport properties, have been studied extensively using DPD. This paper briefly summarizes the application of DPD to research involving microchannel flow, electrospinning, free‐radical polymerization, polymer self‐assembly processes, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, and biomedical materials. The main features and possible development avenues of DPD are described as well.
The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is an important component in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), and the main function of GDL is to transfer water and gas.
Proton transport in proton exchange membrane is considered to depend on the hydrophilic domain formed by the microphase separation between hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments of the membrane. Therefore, the study of hydrated morphologies is crucial to understand proton transport. Here, the mesoscopic structure of sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) membrane and SPEEK/polyethersulfone (PES) blend membrane is investigated by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation. The degree of sulfonation, water content, and PES content are considered to affect proton transport. Results show that the hydrophilic particles combine with water and are separated from hydrophobic particles to form clusters of different sizes. For the SPEEK membrane, with the increase in the sulfonation degree, clusters become large and begin to connect. Compared with isolated clusters at low water content, water clusters become large with increased water content. When water content λ = 16, the cluster size is the largest. The addition of PES accelerates the phase separation in the membrane and increases the size of water clusters. When SPEEK/PES = 4:6, the cluster size is the largest and provides the best proton transport pathway.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.