丁香园AV

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 丁香园AV 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 丁香园AV spin-off, Ionomr Innovations Inc.