Aug
11
Breaking the Boundary – A Connection to a Better Fuel Cell
August 11, 2008 | 8 Comments
For a week I’ve marveled at the innovative connection made at Australia’s Monash University in which Goretex®, a material that’s commonly used in layered fabrics that allows passage of water vapor but not water droplets is being used in a fuel cell development.
Starting with the Goretex® the scientists at Monash applied a fine 0.4 micron layer of the highly conductive plastic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), that acts as both the fuel cell electrolyte and catalyst. The innovation, as an example of connecting unrelated technologies is surprise enough, but the new highly conductive Goretex® material for fuel cells “removes the need for platinum, which acts as the catalyst and is currently central to the manufacturing process,” says Doug McFarlane. With some estimates for the needed platinum costing equivalent to the cost of mid sized engines alone, that would be very encouraging news.
Goretex® is usually a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene that is thermochemically expanded to form microstructured “islands” and fibrils. The resulting gaps between the fibrils form small passages that have been used for the “breathable” famed clothing and high-end filter media. The graphic shows the electron microscope view with the elongated gaps between the islands. The consistency of the Goretex® material itself is something of a marvel.
The platinum matter for fuel cells has been a concern for years. Not only from a cost standpoint but the production today would only support building 3 or so million fuel cells at 100kW size per year, but as we all realize that kind of market pressure, a 100% shift to a new product would drive prices much higher. Not to mention that 3 million vehicles annually would be an awfully slow rate to switch the world’s motor vehicle fleet.
The Monash news release opens with the prospect that the innovation could make fuel cells more reliable and cheaper. Later it’s revealed that the Monash cell has 1500 hours of run time with no signs of degradation or performance declines. Nor is the cell poisoned by the carbon monoxide as platinum is when operating.
The scientists and authors of the Science Magazine published paper “High Rates of Oxygen Reduction over a Vapor Phase-Polymerized PEDOT Electrode” are Bjorn Winther-Jensen, Orawan Winther-Jensen, Maria Forsyth, and Douglas R. MacFarlane from the Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science.
With these results in hand one is drawn back to the observation of the connection of two wholly unrelated technologies, clothing and fuel cells yielding a truly innovative new product. Professor Doug MacFarlane says, “the discovery was probably the most important development in fuel cell technology in the last 20 years.” Which may be so. I’m reminded of the U.S. Public Broadcasting Services programs from years ago called “Connections” by James Burke. This might be one of those moments in history that Mr. Burke would use in the future.
I just hope for news that the new material holds up for methanol, ethanol and other fuel cell fuels. Should that be so, the fuel cell market could get very fast very quickly indeed.
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[…] Starting with the Goretex® the scientists at Monash applied a fine 0.4 micron layer of the highly conductive plastic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), that acts as both the fuel cell electrolyte and catalyst. … Read More […]
terrible, terrible headline.
I need informatian around of material fuel cell
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