CBE Seminar (Zoom): Toward Platinum-free Fuel Cells for Affordable Zero-emission Vehicles

Abstract: Green hydrogen from wind and solar electricity and fuel cells are necessary to deep decarbonize certain sectors of our economy that are inaccessible for renewable electricity and have the potential to reduce more than 30% of our global carbon emission. Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen that is produced by water electrolyzers powered by renewable electricity. For modern fuel cells and electrolyzers, polymer electrolytes play a critical role in controlling their cost, performance, durability and, consequently, their economic viability. In this presentation, I will focus on our recent work on hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells (HEMFCs). More specifically, I will show the roadmap we have developed for this technology and the progress we have made in developing the most stable membranes and the most active nonprecious metal catalysts. I also will try to answer the fundamental question: why are hydrogen oxidation reactions slower in base than in acid for precious metal catalysts?

Bio: Yushan Yan is the Henry B. du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. He previously served as the founding associate dean for research and entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, a department chair at UC Riverside and senior staff engineer/project leader at AlliedSignal. His recognitions include University Scholar Professor and UC Presidential Chair at UC Riverside, Distinguished Engineering Professor and Henry B. du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Delaware, the Donald Breck Award from the International Zeolite Association, the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Award and the Braskem Award for Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Energy Technology Division Research Award from the Electrochemical Society, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, and the Electrochemical Society. He is a Web of Science highly cited researcher. He was one of 37 awardees of the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E OPEN 2009, one of 66 awardees of the ARPA-E OPEN 2012, and one of 40 the ARPA-E OPEN 2018. He is an inventor on 25+ patents and participated in several startups (e.g., NanoH2O). He studied chemical physics at the University of Science and Technology of China, heterogeneous catalysis at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and earned his doctorate in chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.