| Sandia polymer electrolyte membrane brings goal of a high temperature PEM fuel cell closer |
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| Alberquerque, N.M. -- A new type of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is being developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories to help bring the goal of a micro fuel cell closer to realization by using diverse fuels like glucose, methanol, and hydrogen. This Sandia Polymer Electrolyte Alternative (SPEA) could help fill the need for new, uninterrupted autonomous power sources for sensors, communications, microelectronics, healthcare applications, and transportation. |
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| The membrane is one part of a three-year internally funded Bio-Micro Fuel Cell Grand Challenge led by Chris Apblett, Sandia principle investigator, and Kent Schubert, Sandia project manager. Recently the membrane research team headed by Sandia researcher Chris Cornelius demonstrated that the new SPEA could operate as high as 140 degrees C and produce a peak power of 1.1 watts per square centimeter at 2 amps per square centimeter at 80 degrees C. Under identical operating conditions, SPEA material can deliver higher power outputs with methanol and hydrogen than Nafion. Nafion is recognized as the state-of-the-art PEM material for fuel cells. Because the SPEA material can operate at elevated temperatures, it enables several key benefits that Nafion cannot provide. These advances include smaller fuel cell stacks because of better heat rejection, enhanced water management, and significant resistance to carbon monoxide poisioning. These performance properties suggest that the SPEA material may be a potential alternative to Nafion. Cornelius notes that a higher temperature PEM material is one of the goals of the DOE's Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technologies Program. One milestone is to develope by 2005 polymer electrolyte membranes for automotive applications that operate at 120 degrees C for 2,000 hours with low membrane interfacial resistance. Of the new SPEA material that Cornelius and Sandia researcher Cy Fujimoto developed, Cornelius says, "Validation of this material as a Nafion alternative would be a significant achievement, an accomplishment we strongly desire." "We see this SPEA material as having the potential of being integrated into fuel cells ranging from microwatts to kilowatts," he says. "Such a broad power range means that this Sandia Polymer Electrolyte Alternative could be used in a fuel cell to power everything to sensors, cell phones, laptops, and automobiles. |
| -PhysOrg.com |