Achievement

IGERT associate He is co-advised by an experimental microscopist, Prof. David Joy, and a materials modeler, Prof. David Keffer. While investigating the structure of catalyst layers in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, He has been active on both the experimental and modeling front. On the experimental front, she is preparing a manuscript describing her work documenting radiation damage to the catalyst layer induced during the scanning electron microscopy process. On the modeling front, she has one paper under review describing molecular dynamics simulation of adhesion of platinum nanoparticle catalysts on carbon substrates. A second modeling paper is in preparation. These papers describe how moisture and oxidation of the carbon surface can act to either enhance or weaken the binding of the nanoparticle to the surface, depending on the type of oxidation and the degree of humidity.