Learn more about our nanomaterials energy research:
- “Multipurpose nanocables invented,” News Service, 11.16.04
Our researcher involved with nanomaterials technology:
- “Teaching prizewinner: UC Davis materials scientist creates personal field force,” Spotlight, 4.9.07
- “Material pioneer: Starting from Cold War rivalry, materials scientist Zuhair Munir has long been discovering new worlds,” Spotlight, 5.2.06
- Zuhair Munir, professor of chemical engineering and materials science
- Pieter Strove, professor of chemical engineering and materials science
Fuel cells from nanomaterials
Here is a time-traveler’s look at the possible future of energy as influenced by UC Davis activities — a preview of everyday life as we might experience it five to 50 years from now.
Predicted timing: 2030
It seemed possible at the turn of the millennium that fuel cells would soon power our cars and homes with clean, cheap electricity made from water.
Hopes were high; unfortunately, so were the cells’ operating temperatures and their manufacturing costs.
The best fuel cells in 2007 operated at 1,500 to 1,800 degrees F (800 to 1,000 degrees C), and merely reaching and maintaining that heat took quite a bit of energy.
The heat also quickly degraded the machines’ metal, ceramic and plastic components. Furthermore, the prevailing fuel-cell design required an expensive platinum catalyst.
The possibilities of nanomaterials
Meanwhile, at UC Davis, a number of researchers were exploring the possibilities of nanomaterials — metals, ceramics and composites assembled from tiny clusters of atoms and molecules.
In one lab, materials scientist Zuhair Munir and his colleagues were manufacturing new nanomaterials using a novel process of their own invention. Their results included two oxides with crystals 15 nanometers wide (about 1/5,000th the width of a human hair). A handful looks like flour.
To Munir’s great satisfaction, when the team tested the new materials, they found they conducted electricity not only at normal room temperatures, but also without a catalyst.
Today, many of the millions of fuel cells in our homes and vehicles are built with nanomaterials based on Munir’s breakthrough development. Water goes in, electricity comes out. It’s a small world — and a healthier one — after all.
— Sylvia Wright