Feds fund fuel-cell work at MSU

Using hydrogen and oxygen to generate electrical energy — with potable water emerging as the only byproduct — fuel cells
have a promising future where power is concerned.

By MARTIN KIDSTON, IR Staff Writer

That was the message delivered Monday to the Kiwanis Club at Jorgenson’s Inn and Suites in Helena by Lee Spangler, a
chemistry professor at Montana State University-Bozeman.

Spangler, director of special programs at MSU’s office of research, creativity and technology, said fuel cells are clean, quiet
and could replace conventional batteries in the future.
But Spangler also said work is needed to perfect this futuristic power source, and hurdles must be crossed.

Such aspects are part of recent federally funded fuel-cell research at MSU.
The concept behind fuel cells isn’t new. Spangler said that alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) were used in the Apollo missions of the
1960s, providing power to the lunar modules and water for the astronauts. General Motors has experimented with polymer
electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), most recently in a vehicle driven coast to coast on a methane-burning engine.

Over the past several years, Spangler said, fuel cells have been constructed in both the private sector and government labs.
But the technology has lingering problems that science must fix before fuel cells see widespread use.

“You have to know what’s going on with the materials to know where the problem is,” Spangler said. “We’re looking at the
materials used in fuel cells and how to get fuel cells to work with other projects.”

Fuel cells function similarly to lead-based batteries. But instead of fixed chemicals that, once consumed, leave the battery
dead, fuel cells exhaust the used product in the form of water.

Within the fuel cell, hydrogen atoms are sent into a catalyst, which splits electrons and protons. The electrons, bearing a
negative charge, take the path of a wire, while the protons, with a positive charge, pass through a special membrane
separating an anode from a cathode.
As the protons pass through the membrane, reuniting with electrons in the cathode, water and heat are formed, as well as
electricity.

The process, which transfers chemical energy into electrical energy, is more efficient than the process of combustion, and
doesn’t discharge any greenhouse gases.
However, creating the hydrogen used in fuel cells requires electrolyzed water, which in turn requires an outside power source,
such as natural gas or renewable wind and solar energy.

And, Spangler said, moving to a hydrogen-based economy would require huge changes in the nation’s infrastructure.
But as fuel cell technology becomes viable, Spangler said, national discussions need to take place and the public must
explore its willingness to accept the new technology.

Spangler has served as professor of chemistry at MSU since 1987. His research on electron transfer — the focus of the fuel
cell study — began at MSU on June 1. Sens. Max Baucus and Conrad Burns acquired funding for the project through the
departments of Energy and the Interior.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.helenair.com/montana/8A1.html