Today’s fuel cell catalysts run at red-hot temperatures impractical for automobiles. Developing new materials that could improve the efficiency of the main components of a low-temperature (less than 150º C) fuel cell is the aim of the new Cornell Fuel Cell Institute (CFCI).

Cornell chemists and engineers involved in the institute, including Materials Science and Engineering Professors Uli Wiesner and Emmanuel Giannelis, are investigating new materials for fuel cell components: block copolymers and inorganic-organic hybrid materials for membranes, reformers, and possibly electrodes. The CFCI is studying fundamental questions regarding the catalytic oxidation mechanism at specific intermetallic surfaces and the identification and design of high-energy-density fuels. A high-throughput materials exploration strategy allows a large number of samples with varying compositions to be synthesized simultaneously and evaluated using rapid automated processes.

The new approach to the electrochemical device, which in its traditional form converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and produces electricity and heat in the process, aims to make a significant improvement in the technology by discovering and exploiting new materials based on recent discoveries in Cornell laboratories. Some of the possible fuel cell technologies that could result from the research might not even involve hydrogen as a fuel.

An integral part of a fuel cell is the electrolyte membrane, whose function is to separate the two electrodes and allow ions to move across without cross-over of the fuel or any contaminants. Another focus of the CFCI is to design and synthesize new membrane materials that combine high ionic conductivity and low fuel permeability with mechanical robustness.