Open Competition 5 - Chemistry and Materials

Elevated-Temperature, Reformate-Tolerant Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Sponsor: Cabot Superior MicroPowders (formerly Superior MicroPowders, LLC)

• Project Performance Period: 7/1/2002 - 12/15/2005
• Total project (est.): $3,071,771.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) are a promising power source for commercial application -- except for a variety of fuel-related issues. They run best on hydrogen, but hydrogen is expensive and difficult to transport and store. More readily available fuels such as gasoline or methane (natural gas) can be used, but only by using a fuel processor to "reform" the fuel into a hydrogen-enriched gas stream. The reformer is costly and must incorporate a clean-up step to eliminate reaction byproducts -- carbon monoxide (CO) in particular -- that poison the PEFC's platinum catalyst. One solution is to design a catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) for the PEFC that is much more tolerant of CO. The reformer would not need CO-scrubbing steps, and could be made smaller and at a much lower cost. Superior MicroPowders proposes to develop a novel high-temperature material for a CCM and a new continuous manufacturing process to produce the membranes and electrode assemblies in high volumes at low cost. The proposed CCMs will operate at much higher temperatures (above 100 degrees C) than current systems, use less platinum, and tolerate CO levels as much as 1,000 times higher than conventional PEFCs. In addition, unlike conventional low-temperature fuel cell membranes, they would require much simpler water-management systems. Novel methods will be developed to make CCMs for portable power applications and for stationary sources, including an aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition process to deposit very thin, highly porous platinum films on the electrodes. Major subcontractors include Motorola Labs (Tempe, Ariz.) and Reliant Energy Power Systems (Houston, Texas), which will build and test the prototype fuel cells; Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), which developed the high-temperature polymer material for the membrane and will characterize the electrodes; and Polymer Chemistry Innovations Inc. (Tucson, Ariz.), which will design and fabricate the polymeric membrane. Superior MicroPowders is a small firm with limited resources, and since large parts of the proposed technology are unproven, ATP support is necessary to build this academic/industrial partnership. The initial target markets are miniature fuel cells for recharging two-way radios and cell phones, and fuel cells for stationary power units for homes. PEFCs could supplant battery technologies made overseas for portable applications and reduce dependence on less efficient and more polluting fossil-fuel plants for distributed power generation. The new technology also could be used in automotive applications. In addition, the new deposition processes could be used for a wide variety of applications in the electronics, display, and communications industries.

For project information:

Mark Hampden-Smith, (505) 342-1492
mhs@smp1.com

ATP Project Manager

Richard Bartholomew, (301) 975-4786
richard.bartholomew@nist.gov