Date: Feb 26, 2011 Source: ourmidland.com (
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As fuel cell technology works its way toward viable commercial application in automobiles, researchers at the Midland-based Oxazogen, Inc. are doing their best to help push the science along.
Dr. Dennis Hucul, lead scientist on the project at Oxazogen, an employee-owned company that works with Michigan Molecular Institute, said the early returns on the study "Oxidation Resistant Carbon Supports for Fuel Cells" show much promise. The two-year project, funded through a $472,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation, began in September.
"There's a need in the marketplace for improved durability in fuel cells," Hucul said. "Fuel cells that use polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technology offer a source of power that is environmentally friendly, since their only emissions are heat and water. But the membranes' performance is hindered by catalyst deactivation, which limits the cells' lifetime."
The catalyst causes the oxygen and hydrogen to react in a useful way. Deactivation, Hucul said, causes two problems -- the catalyst support is subject to oxidation, and the active metal component, usually platinum, sinters during use. Hucul said Oxazogen's approach may help manage both problems.
"Through a combination of new technology from the ceramics, electronics and catalyst industries, we're able to produce new support materials which are much more resistant to degradation," Hucul said. "What we've been able to do is replicate our initial results and extend them further. Initially, our catalysts were able to survive about 30,000 cycles. Now we've improved the durability of our catalysts so that we're above 50,000 cycles. That's very good, because a standard catalyst loses its activity in about 5,000 cycles. And we think we can still do better."
Hucul said the improvements have been assisted by a technique called X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, or XPS. Using XPS, Hucul has been able to characterize what's happening on the surface of the catalyst at the atomic level. The improvements haven't come at the expense of higher cost for materials, Hucul said, which is key.
"One of the real benefits of our method of making these catalysts is that it only adds a cost of about one percent to the process," he said. "The cost of platinum is still the most problematic piece of the economics for fuel cells, but even with that, sales are strong for fuel cell-powered forklifts, which is the focus of our project.
"The industry has sold about 2,000 of these fuel cell forklifts, and the economics look promising," he added. "They're still expensive -- it costs between $20,000 and $30,000 -- but with an improved lifetime, that's manageable; you can refill them in a matter of 60 seconds. On the other hand, battery switch-out on typical rechargeable forklifts is a long, complex operation. They're not like automobile batteries -- they weigh a ton, so you need a winch system to take them out, you need battery storage areas, you need recharge areas, you have to handle acid, you have to send them to an EPA-certified processor ... with a fuel cell forklift, you eliminate all that, on top of all the green advantages offered, like no greenhouse gas emissions."
While the advances are encouraging, Hucul said what's to come should prove to be even more exciting.
"Our project goal is to make a commercial fuel cell-powered 20-to-30 kilowatt device and have it tested within two years," he said. "We're working closely with a fuel cell manufacturer and we're currently testing larger samples. We can certainly duplicate our best results to date, but we're hopeful that we can still do even better."
For more information, visit www.oxazogen.com and www.mmi.org.
