Germany's first hydrogen filling station on the autobahn opens

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14. Imperfect Graphene Opens Door to Better Fuel Cells

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/03/imperfect-graphene-opens-door-to-better-fuel-cells.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Imperfect Graphene Opens Door to Better Fuel Cells[/font]
[font size=4]Membrane could lead to fast-charging batteries for transportation[/font]

March 17, 2015


The world’s thinnest proton channel: A few hydroxylated defect sites allow for simple and speedy proton transfer through pristine single-layer graphene. (Credit: University of Minnesota)

[font size=3]EVANSTON, Ill. --- The honeycomb structure of pristine graphene is beautiful, but Northwestern University scientists, together with collaborators from five other institutions, have discovered that if the graphene naturally has a few tiny holes in it, you have a proton-selective membrane that could lead to improved fuel cells.

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“We found if you just dial the graphene back a little on perfection, you will get the membrane you want,” said Geiger, a professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “Everyone always strives to make really pristine graphene, but our data show if you want to get protons through, you need less perfect graphene.”

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Removing a few carbon atoms results in others being highly reactive, which starts the proton shuttling process. Only protons go through the tiny holes, making the membrane very selective. (Conventional membranes are not very selective.)

“Our results will not make a fuel cell tomorrow, but it provides a mechanism for engineers to design a proton separation membrane that is far less complicated than what people had thought before,” Geiger said. “All you need is slightly imperfect single-layer graphene.”

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