Great Lakes Energy Institute

Fuel cells are efficient and quiet energy conversion devices. At the core of fuel cell research and development is electrochemical science and engineering - an area of excellence at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) for over half a century. In fact, the Case School of Engineering traces its work in energy advancement to the 1930s, when it became an acclaimed leader in electrochemistry research for fuel cells. One of the first modern fuel cells was built at CWRU in early 1950s. Today the Case Fuel Cell Center (CFCC) continues to feature world-class technical leadership and state-of-the-art equipment in the electrochemical energy area, with an active and broadly engaged faculty specializing in fuel cells, batteries, and fundamental/applied electrochemistry. Fuel cells are a keystone of the Great Lakes Energy Institute research portfolio. CFCC has major interdisciplinary and multimillion dollar research programs and several members of the faculty are world-renowned experts on the technology as well as the science.

"Case Fuel Cell Center" Publication (PDF)

Key Faculty Contacts

Robert Savinell
George S. Dively Professor of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering

Email robert.savinell@case.edu or call (216)-368-2728.

Printer friendly pdf of this webpage (PDF)

Research Overview

Fuel cells are at the core CFCC faculty research projects, yet other areas of applied and fundamental research throughout CWRU have a direct impact on fuel cell development. The CFCC faculty recognize these linkages and facilitate interactions and collaborations. In addition to research opportunities for undergraduates and graduates, CFCC also fosters: translational research and technology transfer, industry participation and stimulation, and community involvement through mentoring and outreach.

Research Projects

Fundamental Processes involved at the interface and within the active and passive components of the systems. These include thermodynamic properties, electrode kinetics and mechanistic pathways, mechanisms of catalyst poisoning and membrane degradation, molecular modeling studies, ion and water transport mechanisms, etc.:

• Nano-particle model electrode techniques to understand interfacial electrochemical processes under realistic fuel cell operating conditions (Savinell)
• In-situ techniques with both temporal and spatial resolution for monitoring interfacial events at electrocatalysts (Scherson)
• First principle electronic and molecular calculations to understand electrochemical mechanisms (Anderson)

New Materials research to improve performance and to create new platform technologies. These include polymeric materials with ion conducting functionality for membranes, precious metal and non-precious metal nanoparticle materials for high performance, high durability, and low cost electrocatalysts, highly efficient and durably gas diffusion media, etc.:

• Continuous-flow vapor-phase synthesis of nanoscale alloy electrocatalysts using an atmospheric-pressure microplasma reactor (Sankaran).
• Poly(p-phenylene sulfonic acid) PEMs with frozen-in free volume for use in high temperature fuel cells (Litt ).
• Conductivity mechanisms and durability issues of PBI/acid membranes and similar high-temperature proton conducting polymer systems, and studies of their electrochemical reaction environment (Savinell).
• Non-precious metal electro catalysts, surface modified electro catalysts, and non-carbon supports for ORR (Savinell).
• Durability of solid oxide fuel cell electrodes toward fuel impurities (DeGuire).

System Modeling, Design and Testing research to optimize performance, reduce cost, prove durability, and demonstrate concepts. These include computer models and simulations of cells, stack, systems, balance of plant, and materials performance:

• Modeling electrochemical transport and peroxide kinetics in a PEM fuel cell (Zawodzinski and Schiraldi).
• Models to simulate reactions and transport in porous electrodes, gas-diffusion electrodes, and electrochemical devices to optimize and diagnose performance (Savinell, Landau).

New Battery and Fuel Cell Designs research to create high power and energy density, low maintenance, and high performance devices. These include design and development of fabrication methodologies to invent new micro devices, develop fuel cell stacks without bipolar plates, design common gas fed designs to minimize complex gas distribution requirements, reduce manufacturing costs, and more:

• Light-Weight, Low Cost PEM Fuel Cell Stacks with Microfluidic Channels (Wainright)
• Miniaturization of Energy Storage Devices: Thick film screen and ink-jet printing technologies fabricating solid oxide micro fuel cells, zinc-alkaline batteries, zinc-air primary batteries (Liu), and microfabricated PEM fuel cells (Wainright, Savinell, Liu)

Applications of fundamental and applied research will impact all scales of fuel cells for applications ranging from portable battery replacement power (lap-top computers, cell phones, GPS devices, etc) , transportation power (automotive, truck and bus power), and stationary power (large and small scale back-up and primary power). The fundamentals of this research equally applies to other electrochemical technologies including batteries, super-capacitors, and other electrochemical energy storage devices. Application of research is a significant aspect of all fuel cell faculty research projects.