Fuel Cells

Fuel Cell Technology

Fuel cells are electro-chemical devices that combine hydrogen and oxygen, by setting up an electrical charge across a membrane. This design produces a steady flow of electricity with no moving parts. A fuel cell system can utilize the hydrogen from any other source like gasoline, natural gas or methanol, thereby turning a waste gas source into a liquid commodity chemical, and contribute to reducing the emissions of industrial operations.

REEACH project

Hybrid SOFC-Turbogenerator for Aircraft

Faculty at UMD are engaged in many aspects of fuel cell research and development including: 

  •  Microbial fuel cells - a bio-electrochemical system that uses bacteria as the catalyst to oxidize organic and inorganic matter, and consequently, generate electric current. Applications include   power generation systems, bio-recovery, waste-water treatment, etc.
  • Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) ​​​​​​Fuel Cells - deliver high power density and offer the advantages of low weight and volume compared with other fuel cells. PEM fuel cells use a solid polymer as an electrolyte and porous carbon electrodes containing a platinum or platinum alloy catalyst.
  • Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) - use a hard, non-porous ceramic compound as the electrolyte. SOFCs operate at very high temperatures which removes the need for precious-metal catalyst, thereby reducing cost. 

University Spin-Offs in Fuel Cell Technology

  • Alchemity - Alchemity is developing technologies and applications in the energy industry using ion-conducting ceramics, from electric power through advanced solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to Fuels & Chemicals through integrated catalytic membrane reactors.

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