Researchers with McGrath's group at Virginia Tech are presenting their research on fuel cell materials at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society March 23-27 in New Orleans.
One paper, presented by Macromolecular Science and Engineering student Mehmet Sankir, talks about the starting material to manufacture the proton exchange membrane (PEM) -- through which protons pass after they are stripped of the electrons that is the source of power. The protons then combine with oxygen to form some harmless byproduct -- such as water when the fuel source is hydrogen.
The McGrath group is making the PEM out of new copolymers -- experimenting with different components. Sankir will present "almost an engineering study of how to make the films -- that is, manufacture them on an industry scale. While it is a unique material, the starting material is one that is industrially available," says McGrath.
"If we can show people how to make this critical starting material in an economical way, then they could see that this technology is possible," says McGrath.
The paper, "Systematic study of the synthesis and characterization of 3,3'-sulfonylbis(6-chlor benzene sulfonic acid) disodium salt monomer for proton-conducting polymeric membranes in fuel cell applications (Poly 621)," coauthored by Sankir, V.A. Bhanu, Hossein Ghassemi, K.B. Wiles, M.L. Hill, William Harrison, M Sumner, Tom Glass, Judy Riffle, and McGrath, will be presented on Wednesday, March 26, at 10 a.m. at the Hilton Riverside Grand Salon B9/B12.
For more information, contact Jim McGrath, jmcgrath@vt.edu, 540-231-5976 or Mehmet Sankir at msankir@vt.edu.
PR CONTACT: Susan Trulove 540-231-5646 strulove@vt.edu