Fuel Cell Related PhD Projects at SP3

 

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Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition of Polymer Membranes
Our aim is to use plasma processing techniques to improve the efficiency of fuel cells. A recent approach to reduce the crossover of methanol, by the Institut Européen des Membranes in Montpellier (France), is to prepare the polymer membranes using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). These polymers have been shown to be thin, dense and highly cross-linked. They have a very good chemical and thermal stability and have a low permeability to organic liquids such as methanol. However, the proton conductivity is lower than that of Nafion. The properties of the plasma polymer can be modified using plasma. We have set up a PECVD system to synthesize the plasma polymer membranes.

 

Catalyst Deposition by Plasma Processing
The deposition of platinum for catalytic layers is an ongoing research topic in our group. Here we use high density plasma to sputter platinum which are then deposited into porous carbon gas diffusion layers for low temperature fuel cell electrodes. We have an existing collaboration with Dr. P. Brault of the GREMI group in Orleans University (France) who is one of the leading experts in the field of platinum deposition. To date this collaboration has resulted in th publiction of several scientific papers.

Carbon nanotubes for fuel cell applications

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