Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

New composite proton exchange membranes prepared through layer-by-layer coating of a biopolymer has shown superior methanol barrier properties, while maintaining a high affinity to proton transfer same time. The highly selective skin layer in the composite system significantly increases the fuel utilization efficiency in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201100366

The most commonly used fuel cells cover anode with expensive noble metal powder which reacts well with the fuel. By using the Aalto University researchers’ ALD method, this cover can be much thinner and more even than before which lowers costs and increases quality.With this study, researchers are developing better alcohol fuel cells using methanol [...]

The limited natural abundance and high cost of Pt has been a major barrier in its applications for hydrogen or methanol fuel cells. In this work, based on the pyrolyzed corrin structure of vitamin B12 (py-B12/C), it is reported to produce superior catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with an electron transfer number [...]

An advanced multifuelled solid oxide fuel cell (ASOFC) with a functional nanocomposite was developed and tested for use in a polygeneration system. Several different types of fuel, for example, gaseous (hydrogen and biogas) and liquid fuels (bio-ethanol and bio-methanol), were used in the experiments. Maximum power densities of 1000, 300, 600, 550 mW cm−2 were [...]

In this paper, energetic performance comparison of three trigeneration systems is presented. The systems considered are SOFC-trigeneration, biomass-trigeneration, and solar-trigeneration systems. This study compares the performance of the systems considered when there is only electrical power and the efficiency improvement of these systems when there is trigeneration. Different key output parameters are examined: energy efficiency, [...]

Acumentrics solid oxide fuel cells deliver clean, efficient and quiet electrical power and heat in a reliable system designed for off-grid industrial and military sites. These systems operate on conventional fuels like natural gas and propane for industrial applications, and liquid logistics fuels for military applications.Today’s remote power generators are noisy, inefficient engines that require [...]

The prohibitive cost of platinum for catalyzing the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has hampered the widespread use of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. We describe a family of non–precious metal catalysts that approach the performance of platinum-based systems at a cost sustainable for high-power fuel cell applications, possibly including automotive power. The approach uses polyaniline [...]