PFI-TT: Understanding proton conductivity in nanocomposite materials to enable advanced hydrogen energy devices

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使用于无碳生产氢气的技术得到广泛采用，以及使用氢气为车辆和工业应用发电的燃料电池。该项目涉及与潜在客户就正在开发的新材料进行广泛接触，以推进商业化道路。正在开发的经济材料将使废热转化为效率收益。这项新技术将通过在燃料电池系统的几个方面实现不那么严格的要求来降低系统成本和复杂性。参与该项目的学生和更广泛的社区将从这一过程中所涉及的学习中受益，包括首席研究人员在内的外展和指导计划。拟议的项目将开发由嵌入陶瓷纳米晶的热稳定聚合物组成的复合膜；这些复合材料已被证明在高温和低湿度下具有不同寻常的质子传导性。考虑到热力和水管理系统对氢能系统施加了很大的限制、复杂性和成本，这些特点为更广泛地部署清洁能源技术提供了大量机会。研究计划包括对纳米复合膜的性能进行系统的调查，改变其组成--包括每个组分和每个组分的体积分数--以战略性地了解对相关性能的影响，包括导电性、气体渗透性和机械完整性。为了实现这些努力，该研究计划还涉及开发与实验室规模的纳米复合膜相关的膜制造技术，并促进将其转化为工业规模、成本效益高的制造。评估的性能指标和在项目过程中采用的制造策略都将由行业和商业化专家提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to enable broad adoption of technologies used for carbon-free production of hydrogen, and fuel cells that use hydrogen to generate power for vehicles and industrial applications. The project involves extensive engagement with potential customers for the new material under development to advance the commercialization pathway. The economical materials under development will enable conversion of wasted heat into efficiency gains. This new technology will reduce system cost and complexity by enabling less stringent requirements on several aspects of the fuel cell system. Students engaged in the project and the broader community will benefit from the learning involved in this process through outreach and mentorship programs involving the principal investigator.The proposed project will develop composite membranes comprising thermally stable polymers with embedded ceramic nanocrystals; these composites have been demonstrated to exhibit unusual protonic conductivity at elevated temperature and low humidity. Considering that thermal and water management systems impose substantial constraints, complexity, and cost on hydrogen energy systems, these characteristics offer a substantial opportunity to more broadly deploy clean energy technologies. The research plan includes a systematic investigation of the properties of nanocomposite membranes, varying their composition - including each of the components and the volume fraction of each - to strategically understand the impact on relevant properties including conductivity, gas permeability, and mechanical integrity. To enable these efforts, the research plan also involves development of membrane fabrication techniques relevant for nanocomposite membranes at the lab scale and also facilitating the translation to industrial scale, cost-effective manufacturing. Both the performance metrics assessed and the fabrication strategies employed in the course of the project will be informed by industry and commercialization experts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.