Lubbock (TX) - A scientist at Texas Tech University named Deeder Aurongzeb may have developed a way to greatly increase fuel-cell efficiency. He uses a type of high-temperature fast assembly technique to create faceted depositions of Titanium, the primary catalyst in fuel cells. The facets create tiny bowls greatly increasing surface area. This potentially gives fuel cells much improved efficiency.

Aurongzeb found that by using a 2nm film of titanium on top of an aluminum oxide substrate, and by heating it up very quickly to 700C, and then holding it at that temperature for many 10s of minutes, the titanium was able to self-assemble into countless facets and clusters on the surface. They’re like tiny little bowls sitting side by side. They are no longer only flat with the surface, but now have vertical components extending outward which greatly increase surface area. And according to Aurongzeb, it is this increase in surface area which would increase the catalyst action, and therefore its efficiency, in fuel cell conversion.

Fuel cells operate by passing a fuel on one side of a catalytic plate with (what is typically) oxygen on the other side, however some exotic fuels can use other oxidizers. The plate serves as a type of conduit which promotes a chemical reaction which breaks down the fuel and releases electricity at the same time. The electricity is then piped off wherever needed via electrical lines. In automobile applications, for example, the fuel cell replaces the battery and consumes fuel and often atmospheric air to produce electricity and, depending on the fuel source, water or a waste material.

Dr. Jerry Woodall of Purdue University told me recently that the goal for fuel cell efficiency is 75%. If a cost-effective 75% efficient fuel cell could be created, there are countless alternate energy sources which would become economically viable as a replacement for fossil fuels, including a type of "water burning" chemical process he’s developed called AlGal. He told me that 75% efficient fuel cells do exist today, but they are pohibitively expensive, costing several million dollars due to the complex manufacturing process and extremely low yield. He also told me that due to the fragile nature of those devices and their single-component makeup, their operational life is measured in only a few thousand hours. If one part breaks, the entire thing becomes unusable. Imagine a $4 million fuel cell giving you only 2,000 hours of life. It cost $2,000 per hour to operate. These devices need to get down to the $100s of dollars for the total unit, with many thousands of hours of operational life before they will be widely accepted.

So far, Aurongzeb has only produced these faceted titanium catalysts in very small quantities in the lab. However, he is confident the technology could be scaled. In fact, one of his strongest beliefs in the potential of this technology is that it is incredibly easy to produce. He says it is much easier than existing techniques. Since only rapid heating is required after the initial 2nm deposition layer is formed, significant advances in catalyst efficiency could be achieved with this technique or derivations of it.

Aurongzeb is now working on alloys created with exotic metals like osmium, iridium, as well as conducting oxides and oxinitrides. He hopes to get an even larger number of facets to form. He says, "I believe more-complex combinations with other supports like carbon or carbides will lead to very interesting shapes and sizes that will be stable at high temperatures. Not to mention the interesting physics that will unfold with all of these studies."

Aurongzeb’s work was published by the Journal of Applied Physics. Aurongzeb has been pursuing a line of research into the surface growth patterns of titanium and other exotic alloys for several years. Texas Tech receives funding from the National Science Foundation for experimental work and research.