Techniques developed at AUS labs give clean energy a boost

Sharjah / WAM

A successful collaborative research study led by American University of Sharjah (AUS) has taken a significant step towards finding solutions to some of the problems facing fuel cell usage.
Fuel cells, which are a clean, efficient and reliable source of power, have various applications and can be used to operate vehicles by producing electricity. Fuel cells run on various types of fuel, such as hydrogen, natural gas, ethanol and methanol, as they continuously need to be fueled.
New research from AUS – conducted in collaboration with University of Sharjah, UAE University and the University of Wisconsin – looks at how changing the fuel cells’ membranes can make the cells more efficient and last longer at a lower cost.
“Fuel cell cars run on hydrogen fuel and can be filled from a hydrogen station. As a result, the car will emit water from its exhaust, as opposed to polluting gases, because of the electro-chemical reaction. However, the problem with current polymer electrolyte fuel cells is that they function at a temperature of 80C because their membranes cannot tolerate higher temperatures. At the same time, this low temperature leads to liquid build-up inside the cell. In the long run, this can limit the fuel cell operation and lead to corrosion. Our research focuses on developing new and less expensive membranes that can sustain higher temperatures of 200 C to maintain operation, which means that water vapor will be produced, rather than liquid. This way the fuel cells will last longer, be available at a lower cost and produce clean energy,” said Dr Amani Al-Othman, Research Team Leader and Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at AUS.
The research was recently published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Dr. Al-Othman, who is looking to further test the membranes, added: “The membranes are made up of lower-cost composite materials, and we now need to identify the best combination of low-cost materials to use and test in a high-temperature
hydrogen fuel cell.”
Students from AUS College of Engineering are also taking part in the research, with their work focusing on developing materials for membranes and energy applications.