Hydronium Hydration Histogram

The hydration of the hydronium ions can be examined either by the 0 + - Oh o PCF or by creating a probability distribution 

In Fig. 14 we study the effect of polymer architecture and water content on the hydration of hydronium ions. Better hydration of HsO ions (by 3 water molecules) with increase in water contents can be seen by comparison of Fig. 14(a) with 14(b). 

The presence of more fully hydrated HsO ions in Nafion accords with the understanding of the less coimected aqueous domain in Nation. If the aqueous domains are less coimected in Na-lion, then there is less surface area with the hydrophobic domain and the hydronium ions have a higher probability of being surrounded by water molecules, as reflected in the hydration histogram in Fig. 14. 

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Figure 15. Hydration histogram for hydronium at various regions in the mem-brane/vapor interface for water content (a) X = 4.4, (b) X = 12.8.

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