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)提供资金的。该项目的目标是开发用于氢膜燃料电池的具有增强传输性能的质子导电陶瓷膜。所提出的合成方法包括在覆盖着纳米级种子晶体的钯衬底上化学生长陶瓷晶体。晶体的生长由强烈吸附在晶体特定面上的添加剂控制。被吸附的添加剂覆盖的晶体的小面比其他小面生长得慢。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，以制备非常薄和致密的陶瓷膜，其中晶区排列和取向以促进质子通过膜的传输。如果该项目成功，该项目将使陶瓷膜在低于目前燃料电池所用的最先进陶瓷膜所需的温度下具有更好的性能。较低的温度运行可能会显著降低燃料电池成本并延长设备寿命。此外，通过将氢膜集成到燃料电池中，该设备可以直接对乙醇等可再生燃料重整产生的混合气体中的氢进行操作，而不仅仅是对纯氢进行操作。这种新的合成方法可以应用于其他类型的离子导电陶瓷，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。本科生暑期实习生将通过罗切斯特大学虚拟能源学院和罗切斯特·艾森伯格奖学金计划招聘。高中暑期实习生将通过皮茨福德学区职业实习计划招聘。

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.