SBIR-STTR Award

Vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP) has been explored by the military for decontamination of sensitive, mission critical equipment and enclosed areas including aircraft, tanks, and buildings that have been contaminated by chemical and biological pathogens. VHP has significant advantages over other decontamination technologies based on its efficacy for the neutralization of chemical and biological pathogens, relative safety, and compatibility with sensitive equipment. VHP systems require a supply of liquid solutions of hydrogen peroxide at high concentrations (35 percent), which is a hazardous and unstable solution, with a short-life, and limited to ground transportation, creating a logistical challenge. A mobile system capable of providing hydrogen peroxide on demand would significantly increase the feasibility of VHP-based decontamination systems. Lynntech has previously developed an electrochemical device called HyPerGen that uses only air and the water with a suitable electrocatalyst to generate concentrated H2O2 on-demand that is near neutral pH and contains no by-products. The overall objective of the project is to make the HyPerGen system man-portable through improvements in the electrochemical stack design as well as developing custom ancillary components such as a hydrogen peroxide concentrator and sensor. Based on the innovative electrochemical stack and system design, a fully packaged HyPerGen system capable of producing 0.2 L/hr of 35 wt% hydrogen peroxide is estimated to weigh only 37 lbs. During the Phase I, Lynntech will optimize the electrochemical stack, develop custom components, and demonstrate a scaled breadboard system. During Phase II, a full-scale prototype of the man portable HyPerGen system will be developed and tested.

Vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP) has been explored by the military as a methodology for decontamination of sensitive, mission critical equipment and enclosed areas including aircraft, tanks, and buildings that have been contaminated by chemical and biological pathogens. VHP has significant advantages over other decontamination technologies based on its efficacy for the neutralization of chemical and biological pathogens, relative safety, and ability to avoid harming sensitive equipment. VHP technologies require a supply of liquid solutions of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at high concentrations (35 wt%), which is hazardous, unstable, with a short-life, and limited to ground transportation, creating a logistic challenge. A mobile system capable of providing hydrogen peroxide on demand would significantly increase the feasibility of VHP-based decontamination systems. To meet this need, Lynntech has demonstrated a device that generates 35wt% hydrogen peroxide on demand utilizing electrochemical reduction of oxygen, that could use air as the source of oxygen. Other than needing electricity and make up water, the device is self-contained, making it attractive for use in Service Equipment Decontamination Systems (SEDS) or for related deployments where ease of transportation and ability to operate independent of logistical support is essential. A Phase I study demonstrated the effectiveness of the device in terms of hydrogen peroxide output metrics and involved implementation of proven solutions for hardware scale up. The Phase I accomplishments place the device on a direct track to fulfill on a full-scale hydrogen peroxide generation prototype capable of producing 200 mL/hr of 35 wt% H2O2. The Phase II involves design refinements to the on-demand device, to meet optimum size, weight and power requirements. The Phase II priority is on integration with existing VHP decontamination platforms.