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Cathodes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that run on hydrogen are coated with a thin layer of conductive ionomer- The ionomer facilitates proton conduction to the costly platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst in the cathode, where oxygen reduction and reaction to form water occurs- Higher catalyst efficiency and lower catalyst loadings are desirable for industry PEMFC cost reductions- ...

C4 olefins are important petroleum refinery and petrochemical plant products- They are used in a variety of downstream processes, such as the production of alkylate fuel for gasoline- About 65 million metric tons of alkylate fuel is produced globally from C4 olefins- Other downstream products are secondary butyl alcohol, maleic anhydride, and butylene oxide, butyl rubber, and methyl methacrylate, ...

There is a fundamental need for a high-performance computing (HPC) approach to computational electromagnetics (CEM) modeling tools suitable for designing and optimizing the next generation photonics devices- The dramatic grown of telecommunications bandwidth requirements is fueling demand for advanced manufacturing methods of next-generation devices capable of incorporating new phenomena such as p ...

Xergy and RPI will develop a novel composite membrane that enables electrochemical hydrogen compression at > 1 kg/hour at 875 bar with an energy consumption of 1.4 kWh/kg, given hydrogen input at 100 bar. Phase I of this research will include synthesis of membrane samples, followed by bench-top evaluation of key performance characteristics, including polarization curves, Tafel plots, and evaluatio ...

Successful robotic casualty evacuation offers a host of benefits for military and commercial users.In contested environments, the casualty can be reached, stabilized and retrieved in less time with much less risk to medical personnel. Instead of medical personnel waiting until the area is secure before approaching a casualty, a well coordinated robotic response can be launched, drastically decreas ...

Ethylene demand is expected to increase by 50% domestically and worldwide over the next 5 years with a scramble to increase supply via expansion or grass root facilities. US capacity will remain at about 20% of the world’s supply and exceed 100 BPPY. To meet this challenge, US-DOE has invented a mixed metal oxide catalyst, M1 for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (C2-ODH) to ethylene at hi ...

Synchrotron-based science has had a great scientific impact and will continue to have great impact going forward. For high brightness 3rd and 4th generation light sources, errors are almost completely due to distortion in the front-end optics caused by the high heat loads generated by the broadband radiation from the insertion device. Diamond offers a solution because of its low x-ray absorption a ...

The recent events at the Fukushima nuclear power plant highlight the need for enhanced accident tolerance. Of particular concern is the overheating of standard zirconium alloy cladding in a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). One of the leading candidates for future claddings is a silicon carbide (SiC) composite. However, it is clear that due to the inherent brittle nature of ceramics and the intrins ...

Neutron scattering is one of the most useful methods of studying the structure and dynamics of matter. These methods require large installations at national laboratories, such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and other facilities constructed or planned in the US and around the world. These facilities serve a large and diverse community ...

With development of shale gas fracking, large amounts of methane and ethane have now become available at low cost. With this low cost ethane it is desirable to convert low cost ethane to high value ethylene. Oxidative dehydration (ODH) for low cost conversion of ethane to ethylene is a potentially attractive route. ODH is an exothermic process for converting ethane to ethylene. By contrast process ...