Acquisition of Modular Electrochemical Cell Fabrication and Evaluation Platform
Abstract
ABSTRACT: The PI will acquire a system of instruments that permit the construction and long-term evaluation of modular electrochemical devices, primarily direct-liquid fuel cells, unitized regenerative fuel cells, and electrochemical flow cells. The proposed platform comprises 2 major components, namely: 1) An Exacta-Coat programmable coater that enables the uniform coatings onto modularsubstrates (e.g. catalyst coating on a diffusion layer or membrane substrate), and 2) A modular electrochemical cell evaluation platform that enables electrochemical cell evaluation at multiple scales, for both performance and durability. This platform will enable the construction of membrane electrode assemblies at scales ranging from 5 cm2 (lab-scale) to 1600 cm2 active area(commercial-scale), and permit the evaluation of the aforementioned electrochemical devices ranging from a few watts (lab-scale) to a few kW (pilot-scale/commercial-scale, depending on application). The unique feature of the proposed instrumentation is the ability to evaluate cells for extended durations in a safe and controlled manner. The acquired instrumentation will immediately impact a current ONR-funded project on the use of anion exchange membranes and bipolar interfaces for direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs)that are used in the propulsion of autonomous systems such as unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). This one-of-a-kind platform will enable reproducible device scale-up as well as stability testing over long timeframes in a reproducible and safe manner. Moreover, this platform willgreatly enhance research that is currently proposed to ONR in the area of unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) by enabling the concurrent evaluation of the device in fuel cell and electrolyzer mode. Forty-fifty student/post-doctoral researchers will acquire advanced training on this instrumentation in the context of DoD-relevant applications. On the education front, The PI teaches courses on Electrochemical Engineering, Electrochemistry, and Renewable Energy Technologies and will integrate the demonstration of selected experiments on the procured instruments into these courses to ensure that a wide array of undergraduate and graduate students are exposed to the experimental methods facilitated by this system of instrumentation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912355
Entities
People
- Vijay Ramani
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Washington University in St. Louis