Sustainable Energy

How Fuel-Cell Membranes Are Made

A new process increases the energy output of methanol fuel cells by 50 percent.

  • by Kristina Grifantini
  • October 20, 2008
  • The process begins with a specially treated silicon disc, which a researcher attaches to a rotating stand in a fume hood. An automated sprayer system emits fine mists of two different polymers and a water solution in a sequence repeated several hundred times in a few hours.
When the membrane is finished, a researcher gently peels it off and cuts it to size for testing.
A researcher sets the membrane in a device that can measure resistance and places it in a humidity chamber. In the chamber, tests are carried out to determine how efficiently protons can pass through the membrane.
If the membrane conducts protons well, a researcher prepares to test it in a fuel cell, placing it between two small, black, circular electrodes. A hot press is then used to seal them inside a square insulating gasket.
This story is part of our November/December 2008 Issue
See the rest of the issue
Subscribe
The researcher puts the membrane-electrode assembly in a fuel cell, between two graphite blocks. The blocks contain small channels that distribute methanol and air through the cell. Hammond’s team then measures the fuel cell’s efficiency under various conditions.

Tech Obsessive?
Become an Insider to get the story behind the story — and before anyone else.

Subscribe today

Uh oh–you've read all of your free articles for this month.

Insider Premium
$179.95/yr US PRICE

See international, alumni and other pricing options

Already an Insider?

Have a magazine subscription?
Activate your Insider account.

More from Sustainable Energy

Can we sustainably provide food, water, and energy to a growing population during a climate crisis?

Want more award-winning journalism? Subscribe to Insider Basic.
  • Insider Basic {! insider.prices.basic !}*

    {! insider.display.menuOptionsLabel !}

    Six issues of our award winning magazine and daily delivery of The Download, our newsletter of what’s important in technology and innovation.

    {! insider.buttons.basic.buttonText !}
    See details+

    What's Included

    Bimonthly magazine delivery and unlimited 24/7 access to MIT Technology Review’s website

    The Download: our daily newsletter of what's important in technology and innovation

* {! insider.display.footerLabel !}

See international prices

See U.S. prices

Revert to MIT Enterprise Forum pricing

Revert to standard pricing

/
You've read all of your free articles this month. This is your last free article this month. You've read of free articles this month. or  for unlimited online access.