Looks like the brains over at MIT are at it again. Led by Paula T. Hammond, a group of chemical engineers are working on improving the performance of methanol fuel-cells. What they have been focusing on is the separator between the cathode and anode. The current material is called Nafion, however this material has several problems including high price and it is permeable to the methanol wasting some of the fuel and lowering efficiency.

The new material they have come up with (which I haven’t found the name of yet) increases the power output to more than 50% when paired with Nafion. They are working to see if they can use the new film by itself to see how that works for them. Using methanol for the fuel is far safer than hydrogen as the methanol is easier to store and transport and won’t explode. A nice little safety feature that we can all appreciate.

It also has a fairly high energy density which could open up some doors in the portable device market. I’m not sure if we’ll have to go to the “Methanol Station” to fill up our laptops, but we will see if they can get a marketable version working and feasible for our society.

How do you see fuel cells changing our lives?

Written by
  Ken

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