- Email: [email protected]
USC breakthrough in storing hydrogen in solid ammonia borane
NEWS With the eight-year sublease to Daimler [FCB, March 2011], Ballard expects annual savings of approximately US$1 million in real estate and related overhead costs. This lowercost manufacturing model is a further enabler on Ballard’s path to profitability. Ballard will continue to supply its FCvelocity™ products for Daimler’s fuel cell car and bus programs, until the end of the current supply agreement. Ballard will also continue supplying Burnaby-based Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC) – its joint venture with Ford and majority owner Daimler – with contract manufacturing and technical engineering services. Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 9000, www.ballard.com Daimler, Fuel Cell Drive Technology: http://ow.ly/6C2NV Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation: www.afcc-auto.com
Plug Power secures $7m credit line from Silicon Valley Bank
N
ew York-based Plug Power has entered into a US$7 million revolving credit facility arrangement with Silicon Valley Bank. The facility will provide the company with additional access to working capital in support of its growing GenDrive® business. Plug Power has seen growth and commercial traction for its GenDrive PEM fuel cell product for electric lift trucks during the first half of 2011. The company ended the second quarter of 2011 with the largest backlog in its history, totaling $24 million. The additional capital available through the revolving line of credit will support Plug Power’s working capital requirements, including the acquisition of inventory to fulfill a growing order backlog and the resultant management of a larger portfolio of receivables. A strengthened working capital position is important as Plug Power’s customer order fulfillment accelerates over the remainder of the year. Silicon Valley Bank has a reputation for supporting new, market-leading, and innovative technologies as they emerge and grow. Plug Power was able to leverage its realistic economic models, reliable product suite, and proven customer success to validate its business. Plug Power Inc, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com Silicon Valley Bank: www.svb.com
10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
RESEARCH
USC breakthrough in storing hydrogen in solid ammonia borane
A
team of scientists at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source, based on its storage in ammonia borane (H3N-BH3). Earlier this year, a team led by Travis Williams, assistant professor of chemistry and with the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, figured out a way to release hydrogen from an innocuous chemical material – ammonia borane, a nitrogen-boron complex – that can be stored as a stable solid. Now the team has developed a catalyst system that releases enough hydrogen from its storage in ammonia borane to make it usable as a fuel source. Moreover, the system is air-stable and reusable, unlike other systems for hydrogen storage on boron and metal hydrides. The research was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. ‘Ours is the first game in town for reusable, air-stable ammonia borane dehydrogenation,’ says Williams. He adds that the system is sufficiently lightweight and efficient to have potential applications ranging from motor-driven cycles to small aircraft. The USC Stevens Institute for Innovation is in the process of patenting the system. The research was funded by the Hydrocarbon Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
Contact: Dr Travis J. Williams, Department of Chemistry and Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Tel: +1 213 740 5961, Email: [email protected], Web: http://chem.usc.edu Loker Hydrocarbon Institute: www.usc.edu/dept/chemistry/loker DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja2058154
INRS researchers improve performance of iron-based catalysts
R
esearchers at the INRS national institute of scientific research in Canada have developed an improved iron-based catalyst capable of generat-
ing more electric power in PEM fuel cells for transportation applications. The group’s latest advance builds on its development of the first high-performance iron-based catalyst for fuel cells. Previously, only platinum-based catalysts could produce similar performance. The latest research findings – from a team led by Professor Jean-Pol Dodelet in the Centre for Energy, Materials & Telecommunications (EMT) – were published recently in Nature Communications. The new results bolster the prospect of iron-based catalysts replacing expensive platinum catalysts in the electrochemical reduction of oxygen on PEM fuel cell cathodes. The EMT researchers are now focusing on improving the long-term stability – to at least 5000 hours – of these promising new catalysts. ‘The next step is the most important, because it will automatically lead to a highvalue commercial product, not only for car manufacturers but also for all industrial sectors that use electric power generators or manufacture their components,’ comments Professor Dodelet. Contact: Professor Jean-Pol Dodelet, Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, INRS, Varennes, Quebec, Canada. Tel: +1 514 228 6942, Email: [email protected], Web: www.emt.inrs.ca DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1427
Oak Ridge microscopy method gives new view of fuel cells
S
cientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have developed a novel microscopy method to probe the reactions that are limiting the widespread deployment of fuel cell technologies – in particular, solid oxide fuel cells. The ORNL researchers applied a technique called electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) that enables them to examine the dynamics of oxygen reduction/evolution reactions in fuel cell materials, which may reveal ways to redesign or cut the costs of the devices. The team’s findings were published recently in Nature Chemistry. ‘If we can find a way to understand the operation of the fuel cell on the basic elementary level, and determine what will make it work in the most optimum fashion, it would create an entirely new window of opportunity
September 2011
Plug Power secures $7m credit line from Silicon Valley Bank
N
ew York-based Plug Power has entered into a US$7 million revolving credit facility arrangement with Silicon Valley Bank. The facility will provide the company with additional access to working capital in support of its growing GenDrive® business. Plug Power has seen growth and commercial traction for its GenDrive PEM fuel cell product for electric lift trucks during the first half of 2011. The company ended the second quarter of 2011 with the largest backlog in its history, totaling $24 million. The additional capital available through the revolving line of credit will support Plug Power’s working capital requirements, including the acquisition of inventory to fulfill a growing order backlog and the resultant management of a larger portfolio of receivables. A strengthened working capital position is important as Plug Power’s customer order fulfillment accelerates over the remainder of the year. Silicon Valley Bank has a reputation for supporting new, market-leading, and innovative technologies as they emerge and grow. Plug Power was able to leverage its realistic economic models, reliable product suite, and proven customer success to validate its business. Plug Power Inc, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com Silicon Valley Bank: www.svb.com
10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
RESEARCH
USC breakthrough in storing hydrogen in solid ammonia borane
A
team of scientists at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source, based on its storage in ammonia borane (H3N-BH3). Earlier this year, a team led by Travis Williams, assistant professor of chemistry and with the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, figured out a way to release hydrogen from an innocuous chemical material – ammonia borane, a nitrogen-boron complex – that can be stored as a stable solid. Now the team has developed a catalyst system that releases enough hydrogen from its storage in ammonia borane to make it usable as a fuel source. Moreover, the system is air-stable and reusable, unlike other systems for hydrogen storage on boron and metal hydrides. The research was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. ‘Ours is the first game in town for reusable, air-stable ammonia borane dehydrogenation,’ says Williams. He adds that the system is sufficiently lightweight and efficient to have potential applications ranging from motor-driven cycles to small aircraft. The USC Stevens Institute for Innovation is in the process of patenting the system. The research was funded by the Hydrocarbon Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
Contact: Dr Travis J. Williams, Department of Chemistry and Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Tel: +1 213 740 5961, Email: [email protected], Web: http://chem.usc.edu Loker Hydrocarbon Institute: www.usc.edu/dept/chemistry/loker DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja2058154
INRS researchers improve performance of iron-based catalysts
R
esearchers at the INRS national institute of scientific research in Canada have developed an improved iron-based catalyst capable of generat-
ing more electric power in PEM fuel cells for transportation applications. The group’s latest advance builds on its development of the first high-performance iron-based catalyst for fuel cells. Previously, only platinum-based catalysts could produce similar performance. The latest research findings – from a team led by Professor Jean-Pol Dodelet in the Centre for Energy, Materials & Telecommunications (EMT) – were published recently in Nature Communications. The new results bolster the prospect of iron-based catalysts replacing expensive platinum catalysts in the electrochemical reduction of oxygen on PEM fuel cell cathodes. The EMT researchers are now focusing on improving the long-term stability – to at least 5000 hours – of these promising new catalysts. ‘The next step is the most important, because it will automatically lead to a highvalue commercial product, not only for car manufacturers but also for all industrial sectors that use electric power generators or manufacture their components,’ comments Professor Dodelet. Contact: Professor Jean-Pol Dodelet, Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, INRS, Varennes, Quebec, Canada. Tel: +1 514 228 6942, Email: [email protected], Web: www.emt.inrs.ca DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1427
Oak Ridge microscopy method gives new view of fuel cells
S
cientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have developed a novel microscopy method to probe the reactions that are limiting the widespread deployment of fuel cell technologies – in particular, solid oxide fuel cells. The ORNL researchers applied a technique called electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) that enables them to examine the dynamics of oxygen reduction/evolution reactions in fuel cell materials, which may reveal ways to redesign or cut the costs of the devices. The team’s findings were published recently in Nature Chemistry. ‘If we can find a way to understand the operation of the fuel cell on the basic elementary level, and determine what will make it work in the most optimum fashion, it would create an entirely new window of opportunity
September 2011