Nissan and University Partners Developing Low-Cost Fuel Cell Technology

Nissan Motor Co. is working with researchers at Vanderbilt University and the Georgia Institute of Technology as part of a U.S. Dept. of Energy program to improve the performance of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen storage systems.

The carmaker and its university partners will receive a $4.5-million grant to integrate and refine a nanofiber electrode developed by Vanderbilt teamed with a catalyst from Georgia Tech. The partners also will work with several DOE national labs, including Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and the Renewable Energy facility in Colorado to better understand nanofiber mat electrodes.

Vanderbilt’s patented electrospun polymer nanofiber mat technology, which was created by chemical engineering professor Peter Pintauro, has the potential to boost the power output of fuel cells by 30%, according to the partners. The material also is said to be less expensive and more durable than conventional catalyst layers, which typically are a mix of platinum and carbon powder.

Vanderbilt already has licensed the technology to Germany’s Merck KGaA, which is working with carmakers on applications for next-generation fuel cell vehicles.

Georgia Tech biomedical engineering professor Younan Xia developed a method to enhance the catalyst’s shape using platinum-nickel nanoparticles. In the DOE project, Pintauro’s group will make nanofiber mat electrodes containing Xia’s nanoparticle catalysts.

The electrode/catalyst combination will be sent to Nissan’s technical center in Farmington Hills, Mich., for evaluation.