Research Projects

While photovoltaic energy generation with crystalline silicon has made tremendous progress and has been widely established, hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs) are currently being explored as clean energy alternatives for fossil fuels. Among the various challenges in the implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technology today are cost, efficiency and storage of hydrogen. One way to reduce the cost of hydrogen fuel cells is by pore size tuning and thereby enhancing proton conductivity with optimal UV irradiation of nafion membrane. Earlier, we have successfully realized high performance direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) with 1) cross-strip geometry flow channels in silicon wafer and by introduction of hydrophobic surface with P(VDF-TrFE) coating on nafion membrane (Patent Appl no: 201841040380), and 2) proton conductivity enhancement of nafion membrane with optimal exposure to UV radiation (Patent Appl no: 201941009746). Experiments carried out on HFCs with optimally UV exposed nafion have shown a power output enhancement by a factor of 2 (Patent Appl no: 201941035383). Hence, this proposal aims for the development of efficient HFCs by introduction of improvements in the existing HFC technology with following techniques: 1) flow channels implemented in a dual-serpentine mode for the flow of hydrogen and oxygen, 2) proton conductivity enhancement with optimum UV exposure of nafion membrane and thereby significantly enhance power output, 3) Use of uniform dispersion but low density platinum deposited on CNTs with carbon paper using RF sputtering process, and 4) Substantial mitigation of hydrogen storage problem with novel in-situ generation of hydrogen with nano-structured photo-catalysts. Hence, the deliverable of this project is a prototype high efficiency hydrogen fuel cell with partial in-situ hydrogen evolution and of dual cell stack size 60 x 40 x 10mm3 and 20W power per cell or 40W power per stack. Further, the novel scheme of in-situ generation of hydrogen with nanostructured photo-catalysts realized with dual serpentine flow channels engraved in fused quartz using ECDM process is expected to significantly mitigate the hydrogen storage problem. Hence, PIs believe this effort will contribute significantly to HFC technology in India. Hence, PIs request that DST-SERB would approve and fund this very important project proposal.