FuelCellsWorks

Metal masters Vismadeb Mazumder (left) and chemistry professor Shouheng Sun, both of Brown University, have demonstrated that a unique core-shell nanoparticle is a cheaper, more active and longer-lasting fuel-cell catalyst than commercially available platinum products. Credit: Mike Cohea, Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Creating catalysts that can operate efficiently and last a long time is a big barrier to taking fuel-cell technology from the lab bench to the assembly line. The precious metal platinum has been the choice for many researchers, but platinum has two major downsides: It is expensive, and it breaks down over time in fuel-cell reactions.

In a new study, chemists at Brown University report a promising advance. They have created a unique core and shell nanoparticle that uses far less platinum yet performs more efficiently and lasts longer than commercially available pure-platinum catalysts at the cathode end of fuel-cell reactions.

The chemistry known as oxygen reduction reaction takes place at the fuel cell’s cathode, creating water as its only waste, rather than the global-warming carbon dioxide produced by internal combustion systems. The cathode is also where up to 40 percent of a fuel cell’s efficiency is lost, so “this is a crucial step in making fuel cells a more competitive technology with internal combustion engines and batteries,” said Shouheng Sun, professor of chemistry at Brown and co-author of the paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The research team, which includes Brown graduate student and co-author Vismadeb Mazumder and researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, created a five-nanometer palladium (Pd) core and encircled it with a shell consisting of iron and platinum (FePt). The trick, Mazumder said, was in molding a shell that would retain its shape and require the smallest amount of platinum to pull off an efficient reaction. The team created the iron-platinum shell by decomposing iron pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)₅] and reducing platinum acetylacetonate [Pt(acac)₂], a technique Sun first reported in a 2000 Science paper. The result was a shell that uses only 30 percent platinum, although the researchers say they expect they will be able to make thinner shells and use even less platinum.

Less platinum, better efficiency The multimetallic nanoparticle created by Brown University chemists for fuel-cell reactions uses a palladium core and an iron-platinum shell.
Credit: Sun Lab/Brown University “If we don’t use iron pentacarbonyl, then the platinum doesn’t form on the (palladium) core,” Mazumder said.

The researchers demonstrated for the first time that they could consistently produce the unique core-shell structures. In laboratory tests, the palladium/iron-platinum nanoparticles generated 12 times more current than commercially available pure-platinum catalysts at the same catalyst weight. The output also remained consistent over 10,000 cycles, at least ten times longer than commercially available platinum models that begin to deteriorate after 1,000 cycles.

The team created iron-platinum shells that varied in width from one to three nanometers. In lab tests, the group found the one-nanometer shells performed best.

“This is a very good demonstration that catalysts with a core and a shell can be made readily in half-gram quantities in the lab, they’re active, and they last,” Mazumder said. “The next step is to scale them up for commercial use, and we are confident we’ll be able to do that.”

Mazumder and Sun are studying why the palladium core increases the catalytic abilities of iron platinum, although they think it has something to do with the transfer of electrons between the core and shell metals. To that end, they are trying to use a chemically more active metal than palladium as the core to confirm the transfer of electrons in the core-shell arrangement and its importance to the catalyst’s function.

Miaofang Chi and Karren More at the Oak Ridge Laboratory also contributed to the paper. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy funded the research as part of its Fuel Cell Technologies Program.

Josh Kurtz

Drexel will serve as a research partner in a recent agreement that provides the United States Navy with a new hydrogen fuel system for Unmanned Undersea Vehicles, according to Danielle Tadros, Business Coordinator, A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute.

Drexel is involved in the project in part due to its relationship with AlumiFuel Inc., which is responsible for the project’s main fuel source, according to Tadros. AlumiFuel has been part of the Drexel Nanotechnology Institute’s Research Consortium for the past two years.

“We’ve been collaborating very closely with [AlumiFuel],” Tadros said.

According to Michael Schrlau, research assistant professor at the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute, the planned fuel process generates hydrogen using soda can-sized canisters of aluminum powder and other additives. Water is injected into the canisters, where it reacts with the aluminum powder after the powder’s oxide layer is degraded by the additives. The resulting reaction between the water and aluminum generates hydrogen.

“We want to help API [AlumiFuel] learn about their product so they can design a better product,” Schrlau said.

Drexel will help analyze the flow of water through the canister, look at different potential additive mixes for the powder and determine why and how the reactions in the canister occur.

Schrlau said the reactions “will be able to tell us a lot” and help with analyzing other chemical and particle reactions.

“We’re very excited because there’s a lot of science to learn here,” Schrlau said.

To help expand the research, Drexel has submitted a grant request to the National Science Foundation for the development of a carbon nanotube that could house the reactions occurring in the aluminum canister.

Schrlau said Drexel hopes to make nanotubes small enough for the reactions to be viewed in real time through scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes.

The grant request was specifically submitted by the departments of Materials Science, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and the centralized research facilities of the College of Engineering.

Schrlau said examining smaller subsets of the reaction could help the analysis of particle design, amount, mix and reaction speed.

Drexel is interested in developing the hydrogen fuel technology for other uses, such as illustrating how nanoparticles aggregate and how chemical reactions occur, Schrlau explained. They are also interested in applying the process to cosmetics and paint emulsion, among other potential uses.

The first phase of the fuel project, which deals with proving the feasibility and effectiveness of the planed fuel system, is estimated to last from July 2010 to February 2011, according to Tadros.

According to Tadros, the second phase, which focuses on readying the fuel system for commercialization, will vary in length depending on the project’s development. Phase two could last up to three years, Schrlau said.

Phase three involves installing the system into Navy vehicles. Schrlau said he hopes all three phases can be completed in approximately five years.

Schrlau believes the hydrogen fuel cell will offer advantages over other technologies used by the Navy including batteries and borahydride. He said the hydrogen generating system would be smaller, lighter and have a higher energy density and longer life than batteries.

In addition, borahydride spontaneously reacts in water, making it less stable than the aluminum that is used by Drexel and its partners, Schrlau said.

“I know they [the Navy] look for a lot of different alternatives,” Schrlau said.

Tadros said Drexel has had a relationship in the past with the Navy.

She said the Nanotechnology Institute is optimistic the hydrogen fuel project will help the Institute expand further.

“It’s all about your track record,” Tadros said, adding that new funding is often based on past successful projects.

The Institute has been in existence for eight years and is part of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, according to Tadros.

Ingenium Technologies, Inc. was awarded the fuel system agreement as part of the Small Business Technology Transfer program, according to an AlumiFuel press release on the agreement.

According to the press release, Ingenium plans to design the project’s overall system while AlumiFuel provides hydrogen fuel technology.

Fuel Cell Today, the leading information provider for the fuel cell industry, has today launched the 2010 Portable Fuel Cell Survey.

This year, Fuel Cell Today presents the portable survey as an extended edition, covering microportable (<5 W) through small portable (5 W – 500 W) to large portable (>500 W) in speciality vehicle applications. This covers a range of end-use applications that are analysed in detail for the first time in this report. We also include special sections on the supply chain, the consumer electronics sector and speciality vehicle applications.

The past year has been an extremely interesting one for the portable fuel cell sector, with the long-awaited commercial launch of the first batch of fuel cell battery chargers aimed at the consumer electronics market, the growth of niche market sectors, particularly those in the large portable space for utility power and specialised applications, and the imminent arrival of higher power density fuel cells for larger mobile devices such as the Apple ipad and Kindle reader.

The full report, together with a global state of the industry analysis section, is available for GBP 3,000. A free snaphot summary version of the report, together with ordering information for the full report, is available from http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/online/survey?survey=2010-05%2F2010-Portable.

The report contains a full analysis of the state of the fuel cell industry in 2009 and specific analysis of the portable sector including market developments, analysis of the supply chain, 10-year market forecasts, speciality vehicles and anticipated highlights of the coming year.

• Kia says it will be biggest in fuel cells
• Restricted sales start this year
• 106mph and 375-mile range

Kia is gunning to become the world’s leading producer of fuel cell vehicles and says it will have 10,000 on the road by 2015.

It plans to sell between 1000 and 2000 a year between now and 2012, although initially cars will be offered only to government bodies and research institutions.

Currently the company’s fuel cell powers a 4×4 called the Borrego or Mohave, depending on market, but the platform underneath could be turned to other large applications, such as an MPV.

The fuel cell stack delivers electricity to an electric motor through a super-capacitor, not a battery, for quicker response.

It can accelerate the car from 0-62mph in 12 seconds, cruise at up to 106mph and cover as much as 375 miles on one tank of hydrogen. Kia calculates that on a well-to-wheel basis, which includes the energy required to produce and deliver the hydrogen, the Borrego is 42% efficient compared with 26% for a hybrid.

Kia is counting on the car having a 10-year life expectancy and says it has already reduced the component cost of the car by 95%.

All that’s needed now is a refuelling infrastructure and a firm on-sale date for the general public.

New age energies and green technologies were the focus of a Fuel-Cell Workshop held Friday at the Gorman Rupp Company in Mansfield. Industry leaders were on hand to talk about the growing fuel cell industry.

Dave Baldwin, Co-Coordinator of the workshop said the goal of the event was to raise awareness about fuel cells, moreso for local economic development people, local government leaders as well as business and industry, to understand the opportunities emerging in fuel cell technology.

Ohio Fuel Cell Coaltion Executive Director Pat Valente said in two or three years they expect to see a significant amount of fuel cells being deployed into the market that are Ohio based companies.

The Fuel Cell Workshop was sponsored by the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition and the Richland Community Development Group.

CT firm plays key role in creating a market for alternative energy cars

By Brad Kane

Proton Energy Systems in Wallingford broke ground last week on the first connection of its planned Hydrogen Highway, a network of nine stations stretching from Maine to Miami where hydrogen cars can be refueled.

The Hydrogen Highway spearheads the company’s effort to create an East Coast market for cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells and, therefore, boosting the need for Proton Energy’s products that create hydrogen out of water.

Even though these SunHydro stations will operate at a loss for the conceivable future, the effort is vital to convincing automakers an American market exists for fuel cell cars, particularly on the East Coast, said Rob Friedland, Proton president and CEO.

“As people get more comfortable with this technology, they will realize it has all the benefits you want from an alternative energy,” Friedland said. “It’s not as daunting or complicated as some people make it out to be.”

Founded in 1996 in Rocky Hill, Proton Energy Systems is a global leader in hydrogen energy, holding 68 related to hydrogen generation. The company, now located in Wallingford, has more than 75 employees.

As of the 2008 report by the National Hydrogen Association, there were 210 hydrogen-powered cars on the road in the United States, although that number likely has grown to 300 vehicles, said Patrick Serfass, spokesman for the National Hydrogen Association.

The majority of those cars — as well as half of the operational hydrogen fueling stations — are in California, particularly Southern California. The vehicles range from SUVs such as the Chevy Fuel Cell EV, Hyundai Tucson FCEV and the Toyota FCHV-adv to smaller, sportier rides such as the Mazda RX-8, Honda FCX Clarity and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL.

All of the fuel cell cars in the field are pre-production vehicles and are not available for purchase in the United States. Some are available for lease, such as the Honda FCX Clarity for $600 month with insurance included.

Auto manufacturers are targeting 2015 as the year most of the models will go on sale, Serfass said, but that depends on whether they believe a market exists for the cars.

“The auto manufacturers don’t want to roll out 100 vehicles; they want to roll out several hundred or thousands,” Serfass said.

The joint effort by SunHydro and Proton Energy Systems — both companies are owned by entrepreneur Tom Sullivan — to build these stations on the East Coast could drastically change automakers’ opinion of this as a viable market for fuel cell cars, Serfass said. With the nine SunHydro stations and other hydrogen stations scattered in New York and Washington, D.C., owning these alternative-energy cars would be much more convenient.

“The auto manufacturers don’t want to roll out a vehicle that will be entirely inconvenient for the owner to maintain,” Serfass said.

Fuel cell cars are zero emission vehicles that run an electric motor using compressed hydrogen gas. The only by-product of the systems is water vapor. The only time carbon dioxide is emitted into the environment is during the creation of the hydrogen, which typically is accomplished with natural gas.

All the SunHydro stations would use Proton Energy equipment that creates hydrogen out of water using solar power, so there are no carbon dioxide emissions.

“Our goal would be to be 100 percent off the grid,” said Michael Grey, president of SunHydro.

Proton Energy expects to be completed with its nine stations by 2012. After the first in Wallingford, next will be one in Braintree, Mass. followed by stations in Maine and Delaware, or perhaps New Jersey.

Fuel cell cars have a range of 200-450 miles, so with the hydrogen highway stations strategically placed, owners can drive the entire East Coast using the alternative fuel.

The cost to fill a fuel cell car with hydrogen is roughly equivalent to filling a car with gasoline, Friedland said. Hydrogen may cost as much as $5 per kilogram, but a kilogram of hydrogen gets more than twice the mileage of a gallon of gas, so a 5-kilogram hydrogen car can drive as far as a 12-gallon gasoline vehicle.

The Mercedes Benz B-Class F-CELL gets the equivalent of 71.3 miles per gallon out of its hydrogen system, according to the Mercedes Benz marketing materials.

Central Connecticut already has one hydrogen fueling station on UTC Power’s campus in South Windsor. The station serves the campus’ fuel cell vehicles and the CTTransit fuel cell bus that has served Greater Hartford since 2007.

Since opening in 2007 with the help of a $2.9-million Federal Transit Administration grant, the only time the UTC Power station sold fuel to a private customer was in 2008 when the Hydrogen Road Tour drove the East Coast.

“CTTransit is expecting to get more (fuel cell) buses this year, so the station will continue to be used,” said Peg Hashem, spokeswoman for UTC Power.

The automakers plan to roll out their hydrogen fuel cell centers around locations where stations already exist, Serfass said. The first place will be Southern California followed by Northern California. Next will be Washington, D.C. and the greater New York City metropolitan area, which will include Connecticut.

Fuel cell vehicles will be competing in the Connecticut alternative energy car market with the more visible electric vehicles, those cars running on a battery that is recharged by plugging it into an energy source, such as an outlet.

A group of utility companies including Northeast Utilities and United Illuminating have been working with Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s Electric Vehicles Infrastructure Council to be prepared for companies such as General Motors, Ford and Nissan to introduce their electric cars into Connecticut next year.

Northeast Utilities, which owns Connecticut Light & Power, already has three charging stations in place for electric cars and has been in talks with dozens of communities and customers about installing more, said Watson Collins, Northeast Utilities manager of business development.

An electric car charging station takes as little as a week to get up and running, so infrastructure can balloon quickly and prove to the automakers that Connecticut is a place to sell their cars, Collins said.

“We are trying to say the infrastructure is here, and the consumers are here,” Collins said.

As for the hydrogen car, the majority of the market so far is outside the United States. More than 60 percent of hydrogen units sold by Proton Energy Systems are for foreign use, Friedland said. The company believes this country can have a viable hydrogen car market, but the manufacturers and the consumers have to be convinced of that.

“Removing hydrogen as a viable alternative energy option is already a mistake,” Friedland said.

The Wallingford hydrogen fueling station is expected to be finished in June, and Proton Energy Systems will have a showcase at the grand opening with fuel cell cars.

“The other key to this is education and outreach,” Friedland said. “As people see it, they fear it less.”