A Long Durability Composite Anion Exchange Membrane for Solar Fuel Generators

Increasing the efficiency and decreasing the cost of hydrogen production can have a great impact on industry and our economy. Converting solar energy directly into chemical fuels such as hydrogen could provide a promising technology not only to harvest the solar energy but also to store the solar energy. By combining a light harvester and a water splitting photocatalyst in a single photoelectrochemical conversion PEC) device, one has the potential to obtain high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency and thus reduce the cost of hydrogen to a level that meets the DOE price target. In these PEC devices, the separation anion exchange membrane AEM) plays a critical role in preventing the mixing of pure hydrogen and oxygen. However, there are limited suppliers of AEMs in the market place and the stability of the state-of-the-art AEMs is far from satisfactory. In this SBIR program, a novel composite AEM is proposed to replace the conventional polymer AEMs. In combination with a novel cationic functional group, it will result in the development of a high conductivity, high stability AEM for use in photoelectrochemical conversion. In the Phase I program, the feasibility of our approach will be confirmed, followed by scale-up process development and manufacturing in the Phase II program. Solar energy is the most abundant renewable energy source on the earth. Successful development of artifical photosynthesis systems by converting solar energy into fuels such as as hydrogen could help meet the ever-growing global energy demand, reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Low cost hydrogen production will also lead to the increased market penetration of hydrogen fuel cells in transportation. The industry will also create new high technology job opportunities in the U.S.