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Technology Disclosure: 07-076 Novel Membranes for Efficient Portable Fuel Cells

Fuel cells promise to create a vast new industry. Major electronics manufacturers want greater power and energy density for their industrial products while the military and science industries are looking to increase their capabilities. Many high energy portable consumer units, such as cellular telephones and laptop computers, also require devices which provide more electrical energy in a smaller, lighter mechanism. Due to their low operating temperatures, low weight, relatively high efficiency and flexibility, fuel cells promise, one day, to provide the high-tech world with all of its electrical demands.

Current portable fuel cells consist of two basic designs, both of which are inefficient. The first binds the fuel cell’s cathode and anode together, with a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) “sandwiched” between them. However, because the PEM interferes with the electrical conductivity between the anode and cathode, this design results in a high electrical resistance. This resistance, in turn, results in a lower overall efficiency of the fuel cell.

The second design does not require a membrane between the cathodic and anodic compartments but, in order to prevent the fuel and oxidants from mixing, does require a continuous flow of fluid to pass within them at all times. While this design results in a much lower electrical resistance, the continuous flow of the oxidant results in only a 30% usage of the oxidant which, again, yields low overall efficiencies.

Fortunately, researchers at the University of Wyoming are developing a new fuel cell technology which overcomes the inefficiencies described above. This is accomplished by employing a silica based nanoporous/sol-gel structure, which can be used either as an ion-selective membrane or a PEM support.

This development offers several advantages over the current designs:

  • The nanoporous membrane can be fabricated to a thickness of about just 10 micrometers, resulting in a significantly lower electrical resistance than that of traditional PEM designs.
  • The design incorporates the PEM within the fuel cell allowing for a physically smaller cell.
  • Oxidant and fuel are kept separate, so no pumping is required to prevent them from mixing, thus avoiding the low efficiency problems of non-PEM designs.
  • Due to the reduced size of this technology, multiple fuel cells may be integrated into one another, allowing overall voltages up to several times that of a single fuel cell.
  • Implementation on a transparent glass-based substrate may allow the use of solar energy utilizing proteins or bio-organisms for cleanly and efficiently generating the required fuel.

If you would like to learn more about this novel fuel cell technology and how your company may apply it in commercial situations, please contact the Director of the University of Wyoming Research Product Center, Davona Douglass.  We would be please to share further details.