Surface Crystallization to Optimize Nanostructure of Proton Conductors in Hydrogen Membrane Fuel Cells

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目的目标是开发具有增强输运性能的质子导电陶瓷膜，用于氢膜燃料电池。所提出的合成方法涉及在覆盖有纳米级种子晶体的钯衬底上化学生长陶瓷晶体。晶体的生长是由添加剂控制的，这些添加剂强烈吸附在晶体的特定方面。被吸附的添加剂覆盖的晶体面比其他面生长得慢。因此，晶体的大小和形状是可以控制的。提出了一种新的多步骤晶体生长工艺，以产生非常薄且致密的陶瓷膜，其中晶体畴排列和定向以促进质子通过膜的传输。如果成功，该项目将使陶瓷膜在温度低于目前燃料电池中使用的最先进陶瓷膜所需温度的情况下具有更好的性能。低温操作可以显著降低燃料电池成本，延长设备寿命。此外，通过将氢膜集成到燃料电池中，该装置可以直接使用重整可再生燃料（如乙醇）产生的气体混合物中的氢，而不仅仅是纯氢。这种新的合成方法可以应用于其他种类的离子导电陶瓷，以提高传感器、气体净化膜和燃料电池的性能。研究生、本科生和高中生将通过参与研究项目和暑期实习而受益。本科暑期实习生将通过罗彻斯特大学虚拟能源研究所和罗彻斯特艾森伯格奖学金项目招募。高中暑期实习生将通过匹兹堡学区职业实习计划招募。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The project objective is to develop proton conducting ceramic membranes with enhanced transport properties for use in hydrogen membrane fuel cells. The proposed synthesis method involves chemically growing ceramic crystals onto palladium substrates covered with nanometer-scale seed crystals. The crystal growth is controlled by additives that strongly adsorb on specific facets of the crystals. Facets of the crystals that are covered with adsorbed additives grow slower than other facets. Therefore, the crystal size and shape can be controlled. A novel muti-step crystal growth process is proposed to create a very thin and dense ceramic membranes in which crystal domains are aligned and oriented to promote proton transport through the membrane.If successful, the project will enable the creation ceramic membranes with improved performance at temperatures lower than required for state of the art ceramic membranes currently used in fuel cells. Lower temperature operation could potentially significantly lower fuel cell cost and increase device lifetime. In addition, by integrating the hydrogen membrane into the fuel cell, the device may operate directly on hydrogen in gas mixtures produced by reforming renewable fuels such as ethanol, rather than solely on pure hydrogen. The novel synthesis approach may be applied to other classes of ion conducting ceramics to improve performance in sensors, gas purification membranes, and fuel cells. Graduate, undergraduate, and high school students will benefit through involvement in the research project and through summer internships. Undergraduate summer interns will be recruited through the University of Rochester Virtual Institute of Energy and the Rochester Eisenberg Fellowship program. High school summer interns will be recruited through the Pittsford school district career internship program.