SBIR/STTR Phase I: Nanofabricated Clay/Polyion Multilayers for use as a Proton Exchange Membrane in Fuel Cells

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using nanofabricated clay membranes as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in fuel cells. The project team will incorporate high cation exchange capacity materials (clays) with polyions as thin films and compare them to Nafion, the current material of choice for PEMs. Initially, fifty four different nanomembranes will be assembled and evaluated against Nafion. The project team will identify those formulations of nanomembranes that show the most promise in terms of technical performance and economic feasibility. The fuel cell market has tremendous potential and initial estimates forecast growth from $5 to 60 billion between 2005 and 2020. Successful research developing nanofabricated clay/polyion membranes for use in PEM fuel cell could lower the costs of fuel cell systems by 38% (1 kW system). These nanomembranes have the potential to increase the power output of fuel cells because they are orders of magnitudes thinner and use high cation exchange capacity materials. Furthermore, these nanomembranes are inexpensive to make, thus reducing the cost of the overall fuel cell substantially. Not only do nanomembranes have the potential to cost less than Nafion, but they can also lower the price of fuel cells due to higher operating efficiencies.