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
Giner has picked 28 projects to share $38m grants to fund early-stage research into new hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Companies including The US Department of Energy, 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 $1.2m to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is working on the direct cooling of hydrogen to reduce energy consumption in hydrogen vehicle fueling infrastructure.