Low Humidity Fuel Cell Membrane Developed
Posted on: Monday, 11 September 2006, 12:00 CDT
A U.S. chemist has developed a proton exchange membrane, or PEM, material that retains conductivity even in low humidity settings.
Fuel cells convert chemical energy, usually from hydrogen, to electrical energy. In a PEM fuel cell, that occurs through a thin water-swollen copolymer film that contains sulfonic acid groups. Electrons are peeled off by oxidation of the hydrogen atoms and hydrated protons pass through the film to combine with oxygen on the other side to form water as a byproduct, researchers explained.
But the efficiency of that process depends upon water, so efficiency -- measured as proton conductivity -- goes down as humidity decreases.
Up to now, a lot of water has been needed to assist the proton transfer process, said Chemistry Professor James McGrath of Virginia Tech McGrath. But, in the desert, that is pretty inefficient.
McGrath, Chemical Engineering Professor Don Baird, and their students have demonstrated a method for creating a material with improved conductivity even at low humidity.
McGrath was to present the research this week in San Francisco during the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society
Source: United Press International
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