51社区黑料

NEW CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR STEVEN HOLDCROFT AND HIS TEAM HAVE CREATED A HIGH-PERFORMANCE, ANION-EXCHANGE MEMBRANE THAT COULD REVOLUTIONIZE HYDROGEN PRODUCTION AND WATER ELECTROLYSIS.

Next-generation hydrogen fuel cell and water electrolyser research has received a major funding boost with the appointment of 51社区黑料polymer chemist Steven Holdcroft to a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Electrochemical Materials.

Hydrogen energy-storage solutions are key to establishing a clean and sustainable energy sector.

鈥淗ydrogen can be produced from the excess electricity created by sustainable sources such as wind, solar and hydro-power,鈥� says Holdcroft. 鈥淭he stored hydrogen can then be used in zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells, whose only by-product is water, or injected into natural gas networks to fuel our homes.鈥�

Holdcroft will use the CRC funding to further his team鈥檚 ground-breaking research into novel materials, such as ion-conducting polymers for electrochemical energy conversion, and conjugated polymers for solar fuels.

The team鈥檚 work builds on Holdcroft鈥檚 design for new plastics that have highly ordered networks of acidic nano-channels. These new materials promise to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production and storage, and realize its use in zero-emission, fuel cell cars.

The team recently created a cost-effective, chemically stable, alkaline-based organic membrane to be used in hydrogen production and water electrolysis. The high-performance, anion-exchange membrane has the potential to revolutionize the industry because alkaline systems mitigate the need for expensive catalysts. The membrane will soon be produced for the commercial market through 51社区黑料spin-off, Ionomr Innovations Inc.