Collaboration opportunity | Licensing opportunity
Ravindranathan Thampi, from the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, is seeking research collaboration partners and licensees for the development and commercialisation of a low-cost and reliable sulfur-tolerant SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells).
Thampi’s fuel cells prevent sulfur-induced corrosion of Ni-cermet fuel cell anodes (electrodes with ceramic and metal components) so making hydrocarbon fuel processing using SOFCs more reliable. The technology uses a stabilising and desensitising additive formed of a non-metal group VIIa and a transition metal to protect catalytically active fuel cell elements from impurities present within the hydrocarbon fuels to be processed.
The additive can be incorporated into system components via several techniques including ion implantation, air plasma spray or vacuum plasma spray, and can also be used to protect chemical or electrochemical fuel processing subsystems, and interconnect or gas supply channels used in gas storage and distribution systems.
The technology can be operated at temperatures as high as 600°C, avoids the need for costly subsystems to remove sulfur contaminants in fuels and can also be applied to Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells.
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