US – Page 228 – TechConnect Briefs

Plasma Torch Process for Hydrogen Production at Small Distributed Stations

Miley G.H., Gough W.C., Leon H., University of Illinois, US

Small distributed hydrogen generating stations have been proposed. However, they are generally assumed to use water electrolysis units or various gas reforming processes. In this study we examine an alternate approach using the exhaust plasma [...]

Engineering High Surface Area Catalysts for Clean Tech Applications

McIlroy D.N., Corti G., Cantrell T., Beaux M., Prakash T., Norton M.G., Washington State University, US

Since catalytic performance is a limiting factor for many essential elements of the hydrogen economy, the need for improved catalysts is great. One-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials are ideal catalysts because of their large surface area to [...]

Nanoengineering of a New Generation Proton Exchange Membrane for Micro Fuel Cells

Moghaddam S., Masel R., Shannon M., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US

We report development of the first viable silicon-based proton exchange membrane (PEM). This was achieved through self-assembly of 3-mercaptopropyl-trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) molecules inside extremely high aspect ratio torturous silicon nanopores. This development can greatly benefit the [...]

A Computational Study to Overcome Mass Transfer Limit in Microfluidic Fuel Cell

Wilburn T., Zhou D., California State Univeristy, Sacramento, US

Membraneless micro fuel cells shown in Fig. 1[1] have eliminated some technical issues related to membrane-based fuel cells such as dry-out at anode and flooding at cathode. However, performance of membraneless micro fuel cell using [...]

A Novel Anode Electrode for Direct Borohydride Fuel Cell

Kim K-J, Bernas R., Miley G.H., Luo N., Yang X., University of Illinois, US

As part of the development of a portable fuel cell using direct sodium Borohydride fuel, deposition methods of the catalysis on the diffusion layer have been studied. In earlier studies catalyst deposition onto a porous [...]

Energy-efficient electrochemical CO2 capture from the atmosphere

Eisaman M.D., Schwartz D.E., Amic S., Larner D., Zesch J., Littau K., Palo Alto Research Center, US

In this contribution, we report on the experimental demonstration of a continuously operating modified fuel cell capable of capturing CO2 at atmospheric concentrations with record efficiency. The atmosphere provides O2 and CO2 at the cathode, [...]

Environmentally Friendly Production of Unconventional Natural Gas Resources

Haut R.C., Burnett D., Williams T., Houston Advanced Research Center, US

Clean burning natural gas begins with producing the gas in an environmentally friendly manner. Industry has made great strides in protecting the environment while increasing natural gas production in the U.S. Producers, however, still face [...]

Phase Stabilized and Enhanced PtCu3/C oxygen reduction electrocatalysts via Au galvanic displacement

Liu Z., Huang D., Koh S., Yu C., More K.L., Allard Jr. L.F., Strasser P., University of Houston, US

We reported here that the enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activity of PtCu3/C catalysts was stabilized using Au galvanic displacement of Cu in PtCu3/C. The results showed that mass activities decreased by 24 and 29%, and [...]

High lithium ion storage capacity of CO annealed titania nanotube arrays

Liu D., Zhang Y., Cao G., University of Washington, US

Highly ordered titania nanotube (TNT) arrays were fabricated by anodic oxidation of titanium foil followed by CO annealing. The lithium-ion intercalation capacities of the as-prepared sample was studied and found to be improved a lot [...]

A Novel Architecture for Micro Fuel Cells

Moghaddam S., Pengwang E., Lin K., Masel R.I., Shannon M.A., UIUC, US

We report, for the first time, development of a fully integrated millimeter-scale (331 mm3) fuel cell-based power generator with a completely passive control system. Fabrication of this unique power source was enabled through development of [...]