Blacksburg, Va., Aug. 30, 2004 -- Sensors invented by researchers with the Center for Photonics Technology, led by electrical engineering 
professor Anbo Wang, will make oil wells more productive. Meanwhile, an economical fuel cell material created by faculty and students with the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute, led by University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry James McGrath, will reduce our dependence on 
petroleum-based energy.

R&D Magazine has selected both of these energy-related developments from Virginia Tech as two of the 100 most technologically significant new 
products of 2004.

All of this year's R&D 100 technologies will be announced in the September issue of R&D Magazine. The researchers will be honored at a banquet 
in Chicago on Oct. 14. Past winning technologies in the international judging have included the FAX machine and HDTV.

Polymer membranes make fuel cell production economically viable

McGrath and former student Michael Hickner (who received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 2003 and is now at Sandia National Lab) invented 
a high temperature proton exchange membrane (PEM) for fuel cells. Battelle, a global science and technology enterprise, has optioned rights to the patents, and Bhima Vijayendran, Battelle senior research leader and vice president of commercialization, is developing products for 
commercialization -- introducing Battellionâ„¢ membranes for automotive, stationary, and portable power fuel cells.

Fuel cells convert chemical energy from hydrogen or methanol fuels into electrical energy. PEM fuel cells use an ion-containing polymer (a form 
of plastic) for this process. Electrons are captured to generate electricity and protons pass through the membrane film, and then combine with 
oxygen to create an environmentally neutral water byproduct. 

PEM fuel cells can be integrated into stacks to provide from .001 up to 250 kW of power, Vijayendran explained in the R&D 100 entry. Large 
units could be used in autos and homes but McGrath said first use will likely be lipstick-sized units in cell phones and computers, where they 
will provide a much longer service life and weigh less than batteries. 

"An early adopter will likely be the military, which is looking at 20 kW backpacks to power communication devices," McGrath said. "You can 
replace 20 pounds of batteries with 5 pounds of fuel cells."
 
Most PEM fuel cells now use a commercial product called Nafion®, which operates in the 60 to 80 C (140-176 F) range and sells for $500 per 
square meter. The Virginia Tech-Battelle material, Battellionâ„¢,  might eventually sell at $50 and operates up to 120 C (about 240 F). It also 
has other advantages. Vijayendran reported in the R&D 100 entry that Battellion remains stable in the fuel cell's highly oxidative environment, is easy to manufacture, using some commercially available materials and new processes, and is highly conductive, to name a few advantages.

McGrath's group has been developing fuel cell materials for about five years with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 
others, including an NSF Partnership for Innovation grant for fuel cell material development. Working at the molecular level, they developed 
copolymers with improved heat tolerance, conductivity, strength, and life. Then they began to experiment with processing to make production of 
improved fuel cell materials economically feasible. 

In the fall of 2002 and winter of 2003, a Virginia Tech alumnus and entrepreneur, Charles Strickler of Manakin-Sabot, Va., funded workshops 
involving researchers from Virginia Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL) to discuss the viability of fuel cells in the near future. 
Subsequently, Battelle, which manages ORNL, became a partner in commercializing the McGrath group's fuel cell inventions and NSF awarded a 
second Partnership for Innovation grant this summer to support a Virginia Tech-led multi-university, multi-industry effort to speed the transition from research to products. "We owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Strickler for his help seeding this collaborative effort," McGrath said.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to 
fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
 

For more information, contact:
About the Fuel Cell Material -- James McGrath, jmcgrath@vt.edu 
jmcgrath@vt.edu  or (540) 231-5976.

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