High-resolution/high-precision PEM Quality Control

High-quality, defect free, and consistent thickness Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) films are required to ensure maximum efficiency and longevity over the life of hydrogen fuel cells or electrolyzers utilizing this technology. The current technologies of PEM film Quality Assurance (QA) and defect detection rely on human inspection, which can be subjective and labor intensive, or measurement technologies with insufficient resolution or insufficient sampling to monitor the entire PEM film quality in a high-speed production environment. This inefficiency in QA directly contributes to either a higher cost for and/or a lower quality of PEM films sufficient for use in the hydrogen fuel cell industry. An innovative technology using thin film interference detected by an imaging spectrometer will be developed into a commercial system that can be installed in-line to a PEM film manufacturing process. This system will be able to monitor film thickness at thousands of points across the web of the film at a rate consistent with a roll-to-roll production process. The output will provide a “map” of the film that can inform real-time QA processes during or after manufacture of the film. The objective of the Phase I effort will be to produce a commercialized version of the software and a design for a complete prototype film thickness sensing system for high-speed production environments. The Phase I effort is designed around high-quality commercial production of PEM films for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers. However, the technology is readily applicable to many thin film manufacturing processes, e.g., thin film deposition on silicon semiconductors during integrated circuit manufacturing.