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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/82345
Description
Title
Efforts Towards Micro Fuel Cells
Author(s)
Lu, Chang
Issue Date
2002
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Masel, Richard I.
Department of Study
Chemical Engineering
Discipline
Chemical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Energy
Language
eng
Abstract
In the second part of this work, we developed a new class of proton conductors based on nanoporous silicon. Proton conducting electrolytes are crucial components in fuel cells. However, the implementation of prevalent polymer electrolyte membranes leads to difficulties in manufacturing the fuel cell structure at the micron scale. Here we show that nanoporous silicon membranes with a thickness around 30∼50 microns exhibit comparable proton conductivities as polymer electrolyte membranes. A non-optimized prototype micro fuel cell made of a nanoporous silicon membrane (37 microns thick) shows very promising performance. While running on formic acid and oxygen, the highest open circuit voltage is 0.79 V and the current density is 13.3 mA/cm2. These initial results show that nanoporous silicon membranes are very promising materials for electrolyte applications especially in silicon-based micro fuel cells. The technique can also be useful for other applications involving proton conduction.
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