Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have been awarded a $1.6million grant to create new technology and processes for the faster and more cost-effective manufacturing of fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies from the US Department of Energy.
The assemblies consist of a stacked proton exchange membrane, a catalyst and electrodes – they are also the core of a fuel cell. Cost is currently seen as one of the barriers to their widespread adoption.
According to Ray Puffer, principle investigator of the project and programme director for industrial automation, the new system will be a high-speed, high-quality assembly process and if successful it will yield a major reduction in the time taken to make membrane electrode assemblies. The end result will be cheaper and more reliable fuel cells.
Another main objective is to reduce the time it takes to press and assemble the membrane electrode assemblies. So the team will work on a robust ultrasonic bonding process for assembling and fusing the different components.
The $1.61million will be spread out over 42 months with an additional $870,000 in cost share by project participants bringing the total budget close to $2.5million.
