The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 28 projects for awards totaling $38 million to support early-stage research and development of innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. This work also supports the DOE’s H2@ Scale initiative to produce and use hydrogen across multiple energy sectors. Selections for this investment focus on key early-stage technical challenges related to non-precious metal catalysts; fuel cell membranes; reversible fuel cells; and electrolyzers to produce hydrogen, as well as innovative concepts to improve efficiency and lower costs of hydrogen vehicle refueling infrastructure. Selections span three topic areas: Topic 1: Platinum-Free Catalysts to Lower Fuel Cell Costs. Awards in this topic area, with the Federal share, include: Northeastern University: Developing Platinum Group Metal-Free Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Acid: Beyond the Single Metal Site. $1,000,000 Indiana University, Purdue University: Mesoporous Carbon-based PGM-free Catalyst Cathodes. $1,002,789 Vanderbilt University: Fuel Cell Membrane-Electrode-Assemblies with PGM-free Nanofiber Cathodes. $880,034 Pajarito Powder: Active and Durable PGM-free Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell Application. $999,814 United Technologies Research Center: High Performance Non-PGM Transition Metal Oxide Oxygen Reduction Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells. $999,982 Topic 2: H2@ Scale: Hydrogen Production and Delivery Infrastructure Research. Awards in this topic area, with the Federal share, include: Plug Power: Autonomous Hydrogen Fueling Station. $1,997,216 Equilon Enterprises LLC (dba Shell Oil Products US): Integrated Control & Dispatch of Renewable Hydrogen Generation At Scale. $1,999,553 Skyre, Inc.: Electrolyzer Integrated Modular Nano-Array Monolithic Catalytic Reactors for Low Pressure/Temperature and High Flux Synthetic Fuel Production. $2,000,000 Giner, ELX Inc.: Anode-Boosted Electrolysis. $1,744,728 3M Company: Low-cost, High Performance Catalyst Coated Membranes for PEM Water Electrolyzers. $1,860,026 University of Tennessee Space Institute: Developing novel electrodes with ultralow catalyst loading for high-efficiency hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells. $2,000,000 University of Connecticut: Catalyst Layer Design, Manufacturing and In-line Quality Control. $2,000,000 Clemson University: Laser 3D Printing of Highly Compacted Protonic Ceramic Electrolyzer Stack. $1,600,000 National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Direct Cooling of Hydrogen to Decrease Energy Consumption in Hydrogen Vehicle Fueling Infrastructure. $1,200,000 Washington State University: Optimizing the Heisenberg Vortex Tube for Hydrogen Cooling. $1,657,757 Greenway Energy: Novel Metal Hydride Material Development for High Efficiency and Low-Cost Hydrogen Compressors. $2,404,600 Gas Technology Institute: Free-Piston Expander for Hydrogen Cooling. $2,500,000 Topic 3: Innovative Fuel Cell Concepts. Awards in this topic area, with the Federal share, include: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Ethylene-Norbornene based Alkaline Exchange Polymers and Reinforced Membranes. $1,000,000 Pennsylvania State University: Advanced Anion Exchange Membranes with Tunable Water Transport for High Performance, Long Lifetime and PGM-Free AEMFCs. $997,944 Drexel University: PILBCP-IL Composite Ionomers for High Current Density Performance. $993,735 Vanderbilt University: Composite PEMs from Electrospun Crosslinkable Poly(Phenylene Sulfonic Acid)s. $600,000 Xergy, Inc.: Novel non-PFSA Proton Exchange Membrane for Fuel Cell Application. $1,000,000 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: Molten Hydroxide Dual-Phase Membranes for Intermediate Temperature Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. $1,000,000 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Novel Bifunctional Electrocatalysts, Supports and Membranes for High Performing and Durable Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells. $1,000,000 Northwestern University: Efficient Reversible Operation and Stability of Novel Solid Oxide Cells. $974,694 Giner, Inc.: High-Efficiency Reversible Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells. $999,503 Georgia Institute of Technology: Durable, High-Performance Unitized Reversible Fuel Cells Based on Proton Conductors. $750,000 University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.: Stationary Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Using Pure Methanol. $999,399
The US Department of Energy has picked 28 projects to share $$1.2mm grants to fund early-stage research into new hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Companies including Giner, Xergy and Equilon are among the beneficiaries. The government grants cover three main areas: platinum-free catalysts to lower fuel cell costs, hydrogen production and delivery infrastructure, and innovative fuel cell concepts. Grants awarded include almost $2m to Plug Power, which is developing an autonomous hydrogen fuelling station and 38 to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is working on the direct cooling of hydrogen to reduce energy consumption in hydrogen vehicle fueling infrastructure.