CAREER: Membraneless Micro Fuel Cells

职业：无膜微型燃料电池

• 批准号: 0547617
• 负责人: Paul Kenis
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-02-15 至 2012-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0547617&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Membraneless; Micro; Fuel; Cells

ABSTRACTPI: Paul Kenis Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignProposal Number: 0547617Title: CAREER: Membraneless Micro Fuel CellsThis laboratory research will exploit some of the characteristic physical properties of the microscale, most notably laminar flow, to obtain membraneless microfluidic fuel cells that the PI and his coworkers recently introduced as a promising power source for portable applications. In these laminar flow-based fuel cells (LFFCs) a fuel containing stream (e.g. methanol, formic acid) and an oxidant containing stream (e.g. dissolved oxygen, permanganate) merge in a single microfluidic channel and proceed to flow laminarly in parallel due to lack of turbulent mixing at these small dimensions. Within this channel, these fuel and oxidant streams flow over and react at, respectively, the anode and cathode that line opposing sidewalls. The absence of a physical barrier eliminates issues such as fuel crossover, water management, and restrictions on media composition that are typically encountered in more common polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM, e.g. Nafion) based fuel cells. The performance of the membraneless LFFCs is dictated by well-understood microscale transport phenomena. Engineering of the mass transfer characteristics of the depletion boundary layers on the electrodes is one of the specific topics of study of this project. This work will focus on exploiting the opportunities of membraneless laminar flow-based fuel cells in the development and performance optimization of alkaline and bio-fuel cells, since the lack of a membrane overcomes many technical issues that to date have severely limited their promise. This will be accomplished as follows: a) Membraneless alkaline fuel cells are to be built that exploit the advantage of superior electrocatalytic activity at both the anode and the cathode in alkaline media while avoiding carbonate formation and membrane clogging issues that to date have hampered the development of PEM-type alkaline fuel cells with few exceptions. b) In membraneless biofuel cells the use of multistream laminar flow enables tailoring of the pH in the individual fuel and oxidant streams to maximize the stability and activity of the individual enzymes, whereas presently biofuel cells are operated using a certain compromise pH. c) Research to optimize the performance and fuel utilization of membraneless fuel cells is planned. Design rules will be derived to capture operation conditions (flow rates, fuel/oxidant flow rate ratio, fuel and oxidant concentrations, etc.) and design parameters (channel length, electrode to electrode distance, etc.) to maximize the performance of an individual LFFC. Introduction of an air-breathing gas diffusion electrode already overcomes mass transfer limitations at the cathode. The introduction of multiple inlets (or outlets) to periodically replenish (or remove) the depleted boundary layer is proposed to address the now arisen anode limitations. Broad ImpactThe educational component of this CAREER development program will consist of (1) the development of modules for a course entitled Microchemical Systems; (2) a multidisciplinary Microchemical Systems lecture series; (3) a graduate program for the development of non-technical skills. The latter non-technical skills program, the core of the proposed educational program, will consist of four components: (i) a Workshop presenting the fundamentals and importance of non-technical skills, as well as the wide variety of available opportunities to improve those skills; (ii) a Personal Development Plan based on a skills assessment and implementation of that plan with the aid of mentors, typically chosen from alumni of the department; (iii) a Project Management Seminar in which typical situations in a corporate environment are simulated; and (iv) a Lectures Series by prominent alumni in leadership positions. The effectiveness of the program will be assessed by student feedback and third party evaluation. The PI will initiate and coordinate the development of this program and work closely with experts in the field in order to ensure the programs efficacy.

摘要：Paul Kenis研究所：伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校提案编号：0547617标题：职业：无膜微燃料电池这项实验室研究将利用微尺度的一些特征物理特性，最值得注意的是层流，以获得无膜微流体燃料电池，PI和他的同事最近介绍了作为便携式应用的有前途的电源。在这些基于层流的燃料电池（LFFC）中，含有燃料的流（例如甲醇、甲酸）和含有氧化剂的流（例如溶解氧、高锰酸盐）在单个微流体通道中合并，并且由于在这些小尺寸下缺乏湍流混合而平行地层流流动。在该通道内，这些燃料流和氧化剂流分别在排列在相对侧壁上的阳极和阴极上流动并在阳极和阴极处反应。物理屏障的不存在消除了在更常见的基于聚合物电解质膜（PEM，例如Nafion）的燃料电池中通常遇到的问题，例如燃料交叉、水管理和对介质组成的限制。无膜LFFC的性能取决于众所周知的微尺度传输现象。电极上耗尽边界层的传质特性的工程是该项目研究的具体课题之一。这项工作将侧重于利用无膜层流燃料电池在碱性和生物燃料电池的开发和性能优化中的机会，因为缺乏膜克服了许多迄今为止严重限制其前景的技术问题。 这将如下实现：a）构建无膜碱性燃料电池，其利用碱性介质中阳极和阴极处的上级电催化活性的优点，同时避免碳酸盐形成和膜堵塞问题，这些问题迄今为止已经阻碍了PEM型碱性燃料电池的发展，很少有例外。B）在无膜生物燃料电池中，多流层流的使用使得能够调整各个燃料和氧化剂流中的pH值，以最大化各个酶的稳定性和活性，而目前生物燃料电池是使用一定的妥协pH值运行的。c）计划进行优化无膜燃料电池性能和燃料利用率的研究。将推导出设计规则，以捕获操作条件（流速、燃料/氧化剂流速比、燃料和氧化剂浓度等）。和设计参数（通道长度、电极到电极距离等）。以最大化单个LFFC的性能。空气呼吸气体扩散电极的引入已经克服了阴极处的传质限制。提出了引入多个入口（或出口）以定期补充（或去除）耗尽的边界层来解决现在出现的阳极限制。广泛的影响这个职业发展计划的教育组成部分将包括（1）为题为微化学系统课程的模块开发;（2）多学科微化学系统系列讲座;（3）非技术技能发展的研究生课程。后一个非技术技能方案是拟议教育方案的核心，将包括四个组成部分：㈠讲习班，介绍非技术技能的基本知识和重要性，以及提高这些技能的各种机会;（二）基于技能评估的个人发展计划，并在导师的帮助下实施该计划;（iii）项目管理研讨会，模拟企业环境中的典型情况;及（iv）由担任领导职位的杰出校友主讲的讲座系列。该计划的有效性将通过学生反馈和第三方评估进行评估。PI将发起并协调该计划的发展，并与该领域的专家密切合作，以确保该计划的有效性。