- Email: [email protected]
UK's first hydrogen demo center opens in Glamorgan
NEWS development and demonstration of production technologies 660 m2 have been equipped with most modern machine technologies, with a further 500 m2 being used for the application-oriented testing of components and systems. Contact: Zentrum für BrennstoffzellenTechnik, ZBT GmbH, Duisburg, Germany. Tel: +49 203 75980, www.zbt-duisburg.de
London partnership to boost fuel cell power
I
n the UK, the London Hydrogen Partnership has launched a £60 000 (US$88 000) fund to help businesses to use hydrogen fuel cells, at the recent Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Showcase at City Hall. The Fuel Cell Viability Study Fund aims to help more developers and local authorities to use hydrogen fuel cell technologies, by funding feasibility studies into whether it is a viable technology for applicants’ buildings and transport. This will help organizations to take the first steps towards installing hydrogen fuel cells. The LHP has found that a barrier to the use of more hydrogen fuel cells is a lack of awareness and understanding around the technology. Many organizations do not know if they are able to install them in their own buildings or vehicle fleets. ‘We hope that this new fund will enable businesses and public sector organizations to find out whether hydrogen fuel cell technologies can be utilized in their buildings and transport fleets, and we look forward to helping them build their own demonstration projects,’ says LHP chair, Paul Medlicott. To be eligible to receive a grant, a project must be replicable, in London, and demonstrate the future role of hydrogen fuel cells in a lowcarbon economy. Applicants can be from any organization considering the installation of a fuel cell, with the capacity to complete the project if it is shown to be possible. Application details for funding can be found online. For more on the London Hydrogen Partnership, go to: www.london.gov.uk/lhp
Intelligent Energy rejigs US operations
U
K-based Intelligent Energy has announced that its facility in Long Beach, California will become the center of its US operations, with its activities focused on fuel cell based product devel10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
opment and delivery. The move comes after Intelligent Energy appointed Murali Arikara to head its operations in the US. ‘We are transforming the US operations to address the increasing demand we are seeing for our products in the US,’ explain CEO Henri Winand. ‘The coming years will present many exciting opportunities for us as we focus our US operations on the delivery of clean power products to our customers and partners.’ In accordance with IE’s ongoing strategy of transition from technology to product development, the focus of its US operations will now center on fuel cell based clean power systems for the portable, backup and combined heat and power (CHP) markets. Intelligent Energy is developing a range of PEM fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies. The company is focused on the provision of cleaner power and low-carbon technologies, working with partners in the transportation, oil & gas, aerospace, defense, distributed generation and portable power markets. Current partners and customers include Boeing, Scottish & Southern Energy, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Suzuki Motor Corporation. Contact: Intelligent Energy, Loughborough, UK. Tel: +44 1509 225863, www.intelligent-energy.com Or contact: Intelligent Energy, Long Beach, California, USA. Tel: +1 562 997 3600.
research
First atomic-scale images of fuel cell nanoparticles at MIT
E
ngineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two other US research institutions have taken the first images of individual atoms on and near the surface of nanoparticles, in a step towards the development of better fuel cells for vehicle applications. Nanoparticles comprising platinum and cobalt are known to catalyze certain fuel cell reactions, making them run up to four times faster than using Pt alone. However, no one understands exactly why, since little is known about the nanoparticles’ surface atomic structure and chemistry, which are key to their activity, according to Yang Shao-Horn, an associate professor in the departments of mechanical engineering and materials science & engineering, and director of MIT’s Electrochemical Energy Laboratory. Using a new technique, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy,
Shao-Horn’s team – in collaboration with Professor Paulo Ferreira of the University of Texas at Austin and Dr Larry Allard of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee – identified specific atomic structures near the surface of such a catalyst. Perhaps most importantly, ‘knowing the surface composition will help us design even better catalysts,’ says Shao-Horn. The researchers analyzed Pt and Co nanoparticles that were either treated with acid, or treated with acid then subjected to high temperature. Nanoparticles produced both ways are known to be more active than Pt alone. Shao-Horn’s team found that each in turn also had slightly different surface structures. For example, in the nanoparticles subjected to heat treatments, the Pt and Co atoms formed a sandwich-like structure: Pt atoms covered most of the surface, while the next layer down was composed primarily of Co. Successive layers contained mixtures of the two. The team proposes that these particular nanoparticles are up to four times more active than Pt alone, because the Pt atoms on the surface are constrained by the Co atoms underneath. ‘This modifies the interatomic distances between the Pt atoms on the nanoparticle surface,’ explains Shao-Horn, making them more effective in chemical reactions key to fuel cells. She adds that ‘this work bridges the gap between our understanding of electrocatalysis in bulk materials and at the nanoscale.’ The work was reported recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society [DOI: 10.1021/ ja802513y]. Contact: Associate Professor Yang Shao-Horn, Electrochemical Energy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 617 253 2259, Email: [email protected], Web: http://web.mit.edu/eel
UK’s first hydrogen demo center opens in Glamorgan
A
pioneering hydrogen energy research and demonstration center has been opened at the University of Glamorgan in Wales. Based at Baglan Energy Park, near Swansea, the £2.2 million (US$3.2m) Hydrogen Centre demonstrates the viability and safety of producing hydrogen from indigenous renewable resources in Wales. The Renewable Hydrogen Research and Demonstration Centre – part of the university’s faculty of health, sport and science – will become a world-leading research facility and
December 2008
NEWS demonstration project, integrating renewable energy technologies – such as solar photovoltaic and wind – with hydrogen and fuel cell energy technologies. ‘Rather than an isolated one-off demonstration, this center provides the basis for a range of hydrogen energy and transport activities,’ comments Professor Dennis Hawkes, who is leading the project. ‘The project puts Wales at the forefront of European efforts to develop hydrogen communities. The new center brings together technology and expertise, and will provide a platform for new business development, growth and employment in the region.’ The opening of the center builds on a number of hydrogen energy projects already under way at the University of Glamorgan. Earlier this year, the university launched the UK’s first minibus to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, and has a number of pioneering pilot-scale biohydrogen projects. The new facility will open up a number of opportunities for academic and industrial research, as well as prospects for public demonstration and organizational training. The new center features a Hydrogenics HySTAT-10™ electrolyzer, driven by wind turbines for the production of hydrogen, which will then be used to power a Hydrogenics HyPM® 12 kW PEM fuel cell power module [FCB, September 2008]. The hydrogen will also be used to fuel FCVs, including a delivery van and a shuttle bus previously integrated with a Hydrogenics fuel cell power module. Developed by the University of Glamorgan with part-funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the building of the center was supported by Neath Port Talbot Council and the Welsh Assembly government. Contact: Professor Dennis Hawkes, Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, UK. Tel: +44 1443 482239, Email: [email protected], Web: http://serc.research.glam.ac.uk
Berkeley Lab opens new window into nanoscale catalysis
S
cientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have observed catalysts restructuring themselves in response to various gases swirling around them. They believe that this first glimpse of nanoscale catalysts in action could lead to improved pollution control and fuel cell technologies. Using a state-of-the-art spectroscopy system at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, the
December 2008
team watched as nanoparticles composed of two catalytic metals changed their composition in the presence of different reactants. Until now, scientists have had to rely on snapshots of catalysts taken before and after a reaction, but not during. ‘By watching catalysts change in real time, we can possibly design smart catalysts that optimally change as a reaction evolves,’ says Gabor Somorjai, a surface science and catalysis expert with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s department of chemistry. He conducted the research with spectroscopy pioneer Miquel Salmeron, also with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s department of materials sciences & engineering. Until now, nanoscale catalysts could only be observed before and after a reaction. The crucial segment – how a catalyst morphs during a reaction – remained a major obstacle. ‘It’s difficult to tune a catalyst to do exactly what you want unless you know how it adapts during a reaction,’ explains Salmeron. ‘With our work, we can for the first time see what the catalyst is doing during the reaction, not before and after.’ Using techniques developed in his lab, Somorjai synthesized nanoscale particles composed of common catalytic metals. Some particles were made of rhodium and palladium, while others were made of platinum and palladium. Next, to see how these bimetallic catalysts change in the presence of reactants, they turned to a spectroscopy system – the first of its kind – developed by Salmeron and colleagues, and located at the Advanced Light Source. Unlike most spectroscopy systems, the ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy system works under similar pressures and environments to everyday phenomena, instead of requiring a carefully controlled vacuum. Using this system, the scientists watched in real time as the bimetallic nanoparticles restructured themselves on exposure to different gases, such as nitrogen oxide, CO, and hydrogen. In the presence of some reactants, rhodium rose to a particle’s surface, while in the presence of other reactants, palladium rose to the surface. With this information, researchers can engineer bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts in which one metal rises to the surface during an initial stage of a reaction, and a different metal rises to the surface in a latter stage. The goal is to ensure that the most active metal is on the catalyst’s surface precisely when it is needed most. In this way, the final product can be developed as quickly and cheaply as possible. The research was recently published in Science [DOI: 10.1126/science.1164170]. Contact: Professor Gabor A. Somorjai, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA. Tel: +1 510 486 4831, Email: [email protected], www.lbl.gov/msd
CONFERENCE REPORT
T
he recent 2008 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition in Phoenix, Arizona was, as usual, the biggest conference-oriented event in the fuel cell calendar, although numbers felt slightly down on recent Seminars. But there is always a large Asian presence, and it is noticeable that in recent years this has seen higher attendance from Korea, Taiwan and China rather than mainly from Japan. They certainly give it a strongly global feel. The 2008 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition Award was jointly given to Dr Shimshon Gottesfeld, formerly with Los Alamos National Lab and MTI Micro, and the Austrian fuel cell pioneer Dr Karl Kordesch. The technical sessions – in four parallel streams – covered high-temperature fuel cell R&D (SECA, SOFCs), hydrogen and reforming, residential demonstrations, education and curriculum development, hydrogen for transportation and manufacturing, military demonstrations, economic considerations (e.g. project financing), molten carbonate and direct carbon fuel cells, PEM fuel cells, transportation demonstrations, emerging fuel cell markets, high-temperature fuel cell modeling, portables, mid- to large-scale stationary demonstrations, government incentive programs, high-temperature fuel cell operation and liquid fuels, testing and modeling, small-scale system demonstrations, and manufacturing advances. The poster sessions were also busy, with some 200 posters in a similarly wide range of themed sessions. Extended abstracts for most papers and posters are available via the website (www.fuelcellseminar.com). The atmosphere in the expo hall this year seemed a little flat, not helped by the current tough economic climate. There were plenty of exhibitors, although disappointingly few of the major fuel cell players – these often now prefer to exhibit at end-user events. This year saw the first, well attended Women in Fuel Cells lunch, which attracted great interest for its aim to encourage young women to follow a path toward working in the field. The group will also serve as a networking outlet for women in the industry to meet, exchange ideas and opportunities. A final highlight was the opportunity to drive or just ride in several fuel cell cars – the Toyota FCHV, Hyundai Tucson, Daimler F-Cell Plus, Chevy Equinox and Honda FCX Clarity – and I have to say that the Honda beats the others hands down for comfort and smoothness! Steve Barrett
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11
London partnership to boost fuel cell power
I
n the UK, the London Hydrogen Partnership has launched a £60 000 (US$88 000) fund to help businesses to use hydrogen fuel cells, at the recent Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Showcase at City Hall. The Fuel Cell Viability Study Fund aims to help more developers and local authorities to use hydrogen fuel cell technologies, by funding feasibility studies into whether it is a viable technology for applicants’ buildings and transport. This will help organizations to take the first steps towards installing hydrogen fuel cells. The LHP has found that a barrier to the use of more hydrogen fuel cells is a lack of awareness and understanding around the technology. Many organizations do not know if they are able to install them in their own buildings or vehicle fleets. ‘We hope that this new fund will enable businesses and public sector organizations to find out whether hydrogen fuel cell technologies can be utilized in their buildings and transport fleets, and we look forward to helping them build their own demonstration projects,’ says LHP chair, Paul Medlicott. To be eligible to receive a grant, a project must be replicable, in London, and demonstrate the future role of hydrogen fuel cells in a lowcarbon economy. Applicants can be from any organization considering the installation of a fuel cell, with the capacity to complete the project if it is shown to be possible. Application details for funding can be found online. For more on the London Hydrogen Partnership, go to: www.london.gov.uk/lhp
Intelligent Energy rejigs US operations
U
K-based Intelligent Energy has announced that its facility in Long Beach, California will become the center of its US operations, with its activities focused on fuel cell based product devel10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
opment and delivery. The move comes after Intelligent Energy appointed Murali Arikara to head its operations in the US. ‘We are transforming the US operations to address the increasing demand we are seeing for our products in the US,’ explain CEO Henri Winand. ‘The coming years will present many exciting opportunities for us as we focus our US operations on the delivery of clean power products to our customers and partners.’ In accordance with IE’s ongoing strategy of transition from technology to product development, the focus of its US operations will now center on fuel cell based clean power systems for the portable, backup and combined heat and power (CHP) markets. Intelligent Energy is developing a range of PEM fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies. The company is focused on the provision of cleaner power and low-carbon technologies, working with partners in the transportation, oil & gas, aerospace, defense, distributed generation and portable power markets. Current partners and customers include Boeing, Scottish & Southern Energy, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Suzuki Motor Corporation. Contact: Intelligent Energy, Loughborough, UK. Tel: +44 1509 225863, www.intelligent-energy.com Or contact: Intelligent Energy, Long Beach, California, USA. Tel: +1 562 997 3600.
research
First atomic-scale images of fuel cell nanoparticles at MIT
E
ngineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two other US research institutions have taken the first images of individual atoms on and near the surface of nanoparticles, in a step towards the development of better fuel cells for vehicle applications. Nanoparticles comprising platinum and cobalt are known to catalyze certain fuel cell reactions, making them run up to four times faster than using Pt alone. However, no one understands exactly why, since little is known about the nanoparticles’ surface atomic structure and chemistry, which are key to their activity, according to Yang Shao-Horn, an associate professor in the departments of mechanical engineering and materials science & engineering, and director of MIT’s Electrochemical Energy Laboratory. Using a new technique, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy,
Shao-Horn’s team – in collaboration with Professor Paulo Ferreira of the University of Texas at Austin and Dr Larry Allard of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee – identified specific atomic structures near the surface of such a catalyst. Perhaps most importantly, ‘knowing the surface composition will help us design even better catalysts,’ says Shao-Horn. The researchers analyzed Pt and Co nanoparticles that were either treated with acid, or treated with acid then subjected to high temperature. Nanoparticles produced both ways are known to be more active than Pt alone. Shao-Horn’s team found that each in turn also had slightly different surface structures. For example, in the nanoparticles subjected to heat treatments, the Pt and Co atoms formed a sandwich-like structure: Pt atoms covered most of the surface, while the next layer down was composed primarily of Co. Successive layers contained mixtures of the two. The team proposes that these particular nanoparticles are up to four times more active than Pt alone, because the Pt atoms on the surface are constrained by the Co atoms underneath. ‘This modifies the interatomic distances between the Pt atoms on the nanoparticle surface,’ explains Shao-Horn, making them more effective in chemical reactions key to fuel cells. She adds that ‘this work bridges the gap between our understanding of electrocatalysis in bulk materials and at the nanoscale.’ The work was reported recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society [DOI: 10.1021/ ja802513y]. Contact: Associate Professor Yang Shao-Horn, Electrochemical Energy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 617 253 2259, Email: [email protected], Web: http://web.mit.edu/eel
UK’s first hydrogen demo center opens in Glamorgan
A
pioneering hydrogen energy research and demonstration center has been opened at the University of Glamorgan in Wales. Based at Baglan Energy Park, near Swansea, the £2.2 million (US$3.2m) Hydrogen Centre demonstrates the viability and safety of producing hydrogen from indigenous renewable resources in Wales. The Renewable Hydrogen Research and Demonstration Centre – part of the university’s faculty of health, sport and science – will become a world-leading research facility and
December 2008
NEWS demonstration project, integrating renewable energy technologies – such as solar photovoltaic and wind – with hydrogen and fuel cell energy technologies. ‘Rather than an isolated one-off demonstration, this center provides the basis for a range of hydrogen energy and transport activities,’ comments Professor Dennis Hawkes, who is leading the project. ‘The project puts Wales at the forefront of European efforts to develop hydrogen communities. The new center brings together technology and expertise, and will provide a platform for new business development, growth and employment in the region.’ The opening of the center builds on a number of hydrogen energy projects already under way at the University of Glamorgan. Earlier this year, the university launched the UK’s first minibus to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, and has a number of pioneering pilot-scale biohydrogen projects. The new facility will open up a number of opportunities for academic and industrial research, as well as prospects for public demonstration and organizational training. The new center features a Hydrogenics HySTAT-10™ electrolyzer, driven by wind turbines for the production of hydrogen, which will then be used to power a Hydrogenics HyPM® 12 kW PEM fuel cell power module [FCB, September 2008]. The hydrogen will also be used to fuel FCVs, including a delivery van and a shuttle bus previously integrated with a Hydrogenics fuel cell power module. Developed by the University of Glamorgan with part-funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the building of the center was supported by Neath Port Talbot Council and the Welsh Assembly government. Contact: Professor Dennis Hawkes, Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, UK. Tel: +44 1443 482239, Email: [email protected], Web: http://serc.research.glam.ac.uk
Berkeley Lab opens new window into nanoscale catalysis
S
cientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have observed catalysts restructuring themselves in response to various gases swirling around them. They believe that this first glimpse of nanoscale catalysts in action could lead to improved pollution control and fuel cell technologies. Using a state-of-the-art spectroscopy system at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, the
December 2008
team watched as nanoparticles composed of two catalytic metals changed their composition in the presence of different reactants. Until now, scientists have had to rely on snapshots of catalysts taken before and after a reaction, but not during. ‘By watching catalysts change in real time, we can possibly design smart catalysts that optimally change as a reaction evolves,’ says Gabor Somorjai, a surface science and catalysis expert with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s department of chemistry. He conducted the research with spectroscopy pioneer Miquel Salmeron, also with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s department of materials sciences & engineering. Until now, nanoscale catalysts could only be observed before and after a reaction. The crucial segment – how a catalyst morphs during a reaction – remained a major obstacle. ‘It’s difficult to tune a catalyst to do exactly what you want unless you know how it adapts during a reaction,’ explains Salmeron. ‘With our work, we can for the first time see what the catalyst is doing during the reaction, not before and after.’ Using techniques developed in his lab, Somorjai synthesized nanoscale particles composed of common catalytic metals. Some particles were made of rhodium and palladium, while others were made of platinum and palladium. Next, to see how these bimetallic catalysts change in the presence of reactants, they turned to a spectroscopy system – the first of its kind – developed by Salmeron and colleagues, and located at the Advanced Light Source. Unlike most spectroscopy systems, the ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy system works under similar pressures and environments to everyday phenomena, instead of requiring a carefully controlled vacuum. Using this system, the scientists watched in real time as the bimetallic nanoparticles restructured themselves on exposure to different gases, such as nitrogen oxide, CO, and hydrogen. In the presence of some reactants, rhodium rose to a particle’s surface, while in the presence of other reactants, palladium rose to the surface. With this information, researchers can engineer bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts in which one metal rises to the surface during an initial stage of a reaction, and a different metal rises to the surface in a latter stage. The goal is to ensure that the most active metal is on the catalyst’s surface precisely when it is needed most. In this way, the final product can be developed as quickly and cheaply as possible. The research was recently published in Science [DOI: 10.1126/science.1164170]. Contact: Professor Gabor A. Somorjai, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA. Tel: +1 510 486 4831, Email: [email protected], www.lbl.gov/msd
CONFERENCE REPORT
T
he recent 2008 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition in Phoenix, Arizona was, as usual, the biggest conference-oriented event in the fuel cell calendar, although numbers felt slightly down on recent Seminars. But there is always a large Asian presence, and it is noticeable that in recent years this has seen higher attendance from Korea, Taiwan and China rather than mainly from Japan. They certainly give it a strongly global feel. The 2008 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition Award was jointly given to Dr Shimshon Gottesfeld, formerly with Los Alamos National Lab and MTI Micro, and the Austrian fuel cell pioneer Dr Karl Kordesch. The technical sessions – in four parallel streams – covered high-temperature fuel cell R&D (SECA, SOFCs), hydrogen and reforming, residential demonstrations, education and curriculum development, hydrogen for transportation and manufacturing, military demonstrations, economic considerations (e.g. project financing), molten carbonate and direct carbon fuel cells, PEM fuel cells, transportation demonstrations, emerging fuel cell markets, high-temperature fuel cell modeling, portables, mid- to large-scale stationary demonstrations, government incentive programs, high-temperature fuel cell operation and liquid fuels, testing and modeling, small-scale system demonstrations, and manufacturing advances. The poster sessions were also busy, with some 200 posters in a similarly wide range of themed sessions. Extended abstracts for most papers and posters are available via the website (www.fuelcellseminar.com). The atmosphere in the expo hall this year seemed a little flat, not helped by the current tough economic climate. There were plenty of exhibitors, although disappointingly few of the major fuel cell players – these often now prefer to exhibit at end-user events. This year saw the first, well attended Women in Fuel Cells lunch, which attracted great interest for its aim to encourage young women to follow a path toward working in the field. The group will also serve as a networking outlet for women in the industry to meet, exchange ideas and opportunities. A final highlight was the opportunity to drive or just ride in several fuel cell cars – the Toyota FCHV, Hyundai Tucson, Daimler F-Cell Plus, Chevy Equinox and Honda FCX Clarity – and I have to say that the Honda beats the others hands down for comfort and smoothness! Steve Barrett
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11