Congratulations to Krysta Waldrop! Krysta’s article “Determining the impact of gold nanoparticles on amyloid aggregation with 2D IR spectroscopy” has been selected as a VINSE Spotlight Publication.
Krysta Waldrop is a 2021 PhD graduate from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering under the direction of Dr. Peter Pintauro. Her research at Vanderbilt was focused on exploring the improving hydrogen/air fuel cell performance though electrospun fiber electrodes. In this recent publication, she prepares a highly porous electrode through the use of a removable carrier polymer (polyethylene oxide). The resulting membrane electrode assembly exhibits a unique behavior where high power output is obtained at both high and low humidity conditions. Typically, membrane electrode assemblies exhibit either power loss at high humidity due to excess water preventing transport of reactant gases or power loss at low humidity due to insufficient water to facilitate proton transport. Implementing this new electrode architecture in a fuel cell vehicle could significantly simplify the onboard humidification system, reducing vehicle cost. This work is an exciting step forward towards large-scale commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles.