DOE Gives Fuel-Cell Materials Research Center $1.2 Million

DOE Gives Fuel-Cell Materials Research Center $1.2 Million

Michigan Tech's Center for Fundamental and Applied Research in Nanostructured and Lightweight Materials has just been awarded $1.23 million in continuing funding from the Department of Energy, bringing its total DOE support since 2004 to nearly $3 million.

The center had its genesis almost nine years ago, when Professor Michael Mullins (Chemical Engineering) was tapped to serve on a National Academy of Sciences review panel charged with evaluating America's transportation energy needs for the 21st century. Super-clean hydrogen fuel cells seemed like a perfect alternative to greenhouse-gas producing internal combustion engines, but the panel identified some major shortfalls.

"We determined that the main problem with fuel cells was materials," says Mullins. Specifically, they rely too heavily on precious metals, including platinum, to be affordable. The polymer electrolyte membrane, a key part of a fuel cell, also needed to function better at high temperatures and to better dissipate the main byproduct: water. To do that, different materials needed to be developed. And since current fuel cells are fairly heavy, making the components lighter is advantageous.

Armed with this intelligence, Mullins wrote a proposal for a Michigan Tech research center that would focus on using better materials to build better fuel cells. Since it received its first $1.1 million in 2004, the center has assembled the talents of several researchers working on a variety of projects.

Chemistry Professor Bahne Cornilsen and Chemical Engineering Professor Tony Rogers have patented a nickel hydride battery electrode that can deliver more power than the batteries now in use at half the weight.

Chemical engineering faculty members Julia King and Jason Keith, along with Jeff Allen, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, are experimenting with designs and materials to lighten fuel cells and improve water management. Stephen Hackney, a professor of materials science and engineering, contributes his expertise in lithium ion batteries. Mullins is working on new, more heat-tolerant materials to replace the polymer electrolyte membrane. Joe Holles, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, is studying a new class of metal electrodes that show promise as a replacement for platinum.

And, in a research spinoff, Ryan Gilbert, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is working with his PhD student Han Bing Wang on nanofibers that could be used to as a lattice to regenerate nerve fibers. The work is being conducted in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University.

"The last five years have been pretty exciting," Mullins said. "We hope that our work will lead to further economic development in Michigan and energy independence for the United States.

"We've made every effort to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money," he added, "and I think we've succeeded."

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