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Overview

In it’s 6th consecutive year, this internationally recognized meeting will present the latest advancements in portable fuel cell technology from such leading organizations as:

· Ardour Capital Partners
• Cabot Superior MicroPowders
• CalTech
• CNR - ITAE
• De Nora/E-TEK
• Duracell
• Fraunhofer Institute
• Fuel Cell Today
• IdaTech
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• MesoFuel
• Mesoscopic Devices
• Millennium Cell
• Motorola
• MTI MicroFuel Cells
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• National Atomic Agency of France
• National Research Council of Canada
• NuVant Systems
• Protonex Technology Corporation
• Samsung
• Smart Fuel Cell AG
• Symyx Technologies
• University of Michigan
• University of Notre Dame
• United States Department of Energy

RELATED LINKS
American Institute of Physics
Fuel Cell Industry Report
Fuel Cell Magazine
Fuel Cell Today
Motorola
MTI MicroFuel Cells
National Research Council of Canada
Samsung
Smart Fuel Cell AG

Agenda

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

8:15 Registration, Coffee and Pastries, Exhibit/Poster Setup

8:55 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Eduardo E. Wolf, PhD, Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Notre Dame

9:00 KEY NOTE ADDRESS
Combinatorial Discovery of Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts
Eugene S. Smotkin, PhD, CEO, NuVant Systems
The application of combinatorial methods to fuel cell electrocatalysis was inspired by the pharmaceutical industry, where very large libraries of discreet molecules were prepared, for example, by split and pool methods with tagging to enable post screen identification of positive hits. The differences between discreet molecule libraries and mixed metal multiphase materials for fuel cells, diminishes the analogies between applications of combinatorial discovery to drug development versus fuel cell electrocatalysis. In-situ fuel cell spectroscopic studies, discovery level library preparation and screening, and array fuel cell systems capable of high throughput fundamental studies will be discussed.

9:50 Sputter-Deposited Anode Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
Jay F. Whitacre, PhD, Member Technical Staff, and
S.R. Narayanan, PhD, Group Supervisor, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Novel anode catalyst materials for direct methanol fuel cells were examined using a combinatorial technique. Binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys were sputter-deposited onto graphitic carbon substrates. The chamber geometry used allowed for a systematic compositional variation to be created across the substrate surface. Combinatorial electrochemical screening was carried out with a multi-channel pseudo-potentiostat. Fuel cells were tested with the most promising materials. The discussion will cover novel alloys containing greatly diminished noble metal loading capable of matching the performance of traditional Pt-Ru, as well as a new class of corrosion-resistant protective films.

10:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

10:50 Combinatorial and High Throughput Electrocatalysis - Mapping Activity, Stability and Structure For New DMFC Anode Fuel Cell Catalysts
Peter Strasser, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist, and
Alexander Gorer, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist, Symyx Technologies, Inc.
An integrated combinatorial and high throughput electrochemical workflow has been developed and applied to the discovery and optimizations of low-Pt DMFC anode catalysts. At the primary screening level, new active ternary catalyst compositions for the electrooxidation of methanol were discovered and optimized, and their stability in acidic solutions was characterized using automated XRD and EDX. At the secondary screening level, carbon supported high-surface-area ternary catalysts were prepared and evaluated using combinatorial powder synthesis and rotating disk electrode screening techniques. The Symyx workflow provides rapid mapping of activity-stability-structure-composition relationships.

11:30 Spray Pyrolysis-Based High Throughput Synthesis Platform for Discovery of Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts
Paolina Atanassova, PhD, Manager of R&D, Energy Materials, Cabot Superior MicroPowders
The discovery of low-cost high-performance oxygen reduction (ORR) electrocatalysts is one vital area in the development of PEMFC, that is of great importance for future mass production of fuel cells. Cabot Superior MicroPowders (CSMP) has developed a high throughput spray-based synthesis tool, which allows for fast screening of various electrocatalyst compositions (binary and ternary alloys) along with optimization of the microstructure and the morphology of the active phase. In addition, the electrocatalyst synthesis in a combinatorial mode is being done at conditions compatible with CSMP's spray-based manufacturing platform that has already being scaled to commercial volumes for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing of high-performance, highly reproducible electrocatalyst powders for PEMFC applications. This presentation will address the choice of components, workflow, data processing and test results on the performance of various compositions as oxygen reduction (ORR) electrocatalysts.
In collaboration with: M.Hampden-Smith, B.Gurau, P.Napolitano, Cabot Superior Micropowders

12:10 Lunch on Your Own

1:40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Eugene S. Smotkin, PhD, CEO, NuVant Systems

1:45 Discovery of Carbide - and Nitride-Based Catalysts Using Combinatorial Synthesis/High Throughput Methods
Levi T. Thompson, PhD, Associate Dean and Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
Since Boudart’s discovery, in the 1980’s, of methods to synthesize early transition metal carbides and nitrides with high surface areas (>100 m²/g), there has been considerable interest in their use as catalysts and electrocatalysts. These materials have been demonstrated to be highly active for reactions ranging from amination to electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation to water gas shift. This diversity of function, as well as their performance for selected hydrocarbon conversion reactions has led to suggestions that these materials are “platinum-like”. High surface area carbides and nitrides can be formed from most of the early transition metals, and several bimetallic phases combining early and late transition metals are known. Given the number of potential constituents, the identification of promising carbide and nitride compositions and microstructures is a daunting task from a statistical point of view. To accelerate the process, we are using combinatorial methods to synthesize multimetallic carbides and nitrides. This talk will describe a new, low-cost combinatorial synthesis/high though-put screening system, and its use in the discovery of new carbide- and nitride-based catalytic materials. We have identified new materials for the production of hydrogen-rich gas for fuel cells, and use as support materials for CO-tolerant electrocatalysts.

2:25 Selective Combinatorial Catalysis for Hydrogen Purification and Generation
Eduardo E. Wolf, PhD, Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Notre Dame
In this work we describe a strategy for selective combinatorial catalysis for the preferential oxidation of CO (PROX) in the presence of hydrogen, which is relevant to the purification of hydrogen for fuel cells applications and for methanol decomposition for hydrogen generation. The experimental methodology consists of developing a model of the ideal catalysts for the reaction to be studied based on which materials are selected to be studied by infrared thermography and then in high throughput parallel reactor and finally in a single recycle reactor. This knowledge based selective combinatorial strategy leads to quick and useful results for catalysts development.

3:05 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

3:25 Rapid-Throughput Approaches to Electrocatalyst Development

Speaker to be confirmed

4:05 Laser Activated Membrane Introduction Mass Spectroscopy: A Discovery and Focus Level Screening System
Amit Nayar, PhD, Research Associate, Chemical Engineering Dept, Illinois Institute of Technology
Laser activated membrane introduction mass spectrometry, a high throughput screening method, evaluates heterogeneous catalysts under realistic reactor conditions. It is versatile system requiring no moving parts. The catalyst array is supported on carbon paper overlaid upon a silicone rubber membrane configured in a variation of membrane introduction mass spectrometry. The carbon paper serves as a heat dissipating gas diffusion layer that permits laser heating of catalyst samples far above the decomposition temperature of the polymer membrane that separates the array from the mass spectrometer vacuum chamber. A computer-controlled CO₂ bar-code writing laser is used for fine tune heating of the catalyst spots above the base temperature of the LAMIMS reactor. Applications of LAMIMS to fuel processor catalyst discovery will be discussed.

4:45 Application of Combinatorial Electrochemistry Methods for Fuel Cell Materials Development

Speaker to be confirmed

5:25 Open Discussion

Facilitator - Eugene S. Smotkin

All seminar speakers available to take questions

5:40 Concluding Remarks and End of Seminar

Thursday, May 6, 2004

8:00 Registration, Coffee and Pastries, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

8:50 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Hyuk Chang, PhD, Principal Researcher, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung, Korea

9:00 KEY NOTE ADDRESS
DOE Fuel Cell R&D Under the FreedomCAR and Hydrogen Fuel Initiative: The Importance of Small Fuel Cell Applications
Patrick B. Davis, Fuel Cell Team Leader, Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
This presentation will describe the fuel cell activities under the FreedomCAR and Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The applications of fuel cell technology, the barriers to achieving program goals and new R&D initiatives addressing program priorities will be presented, including, (1) cost-reduction activities for transportation, stationary and portable fuel cell systems, (2) infrastructure and technology validation activities for real-world testing of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling stations, and (3) program activities that promote the commercialization of “early market” fuel cell applications such as consumer electronics and distributed generation.

9:30 Portable Reformed Methanol-to-Hydrogen Fuel Cells: System Design, Tradeoffs and Results
Jerry Hallmark, Manager, Energy Technologies, Motorola Labs - Microelectronics & Physical Sciences Lab
A reformed methanol-to-hydrogen fuel cell system is being developed for portable power applications. A miniature integrated fuel processor was integrated with an elevated temperature fuel cell unit and enclosed with an insulator to evaluate the reformed hydrogen fuel cell system. Performance of a 2W RHFC prototype system will be discussed, along with projections for a 20W system.

10:00 Advances in Compact Pure Hydrogen Generators for Fuel Cells
Anand Chellappa, PhD, Vice President R&D and Chief Technology Officer, MesoFuel, Inc.
MesoFuel, Inc. is developing compact fuel processors and hydrogen generators for fuel cells. By integrating the functions of hydrogen production and hydrogen separation in our MesoChannel membrane steam reformers, pure hydrogen is produced in a single compact unit for PEM fuel cell use. We have previously shown that pure hydrogen can be produced from light hydrocarbons and ammonia in an efficient manner using our steam reformers while operating at 575 to 625°C and 6 bar. We have recently powered PEM fuel cells using pure hydrogen production from a synthetic kerosene fuel. Such fuels are of great interest to both military and commercial fuel cell applications. System specifications and integration issues will be discussed.
In collaboration with: T.Vencil, T.Foster, D.Miller

10:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

11:00 PEM-Fuel-Cell Systems Using Liquid-Fuel Reformers Rated From 100 W to 1 kW
David Edlund, PhD, Senior Vice President, CTO, IdaTech, LLC
Electrical output in the range of 100 W to 1 kW is often considered ideal for most portable power applications. Yet pure hydrogen (as either compressed gas or stored in metal hydrides) is not a convenient or economical fuel supply for portable fuel-cell systems. This paper will describe the performance of fuel-cell systems that incorporate a liquid-fuel reformer to convert methanol, diesel, kerosene, and other liquid fuels into high-purity hydrogen on-demand.

11:30 Advancements in Hydrogen on Demand Fuel Systems for Consumer Electronics Devices
Shailesh Shah, PhD, Senior Scientist, Millennium Cell
Hydrogen Fuel cells are well suited to a wide range of power generation applications. Successful implementation of micro PEM fuel cells for portable electronics applications is largely dependent on the availability of a hydrogen source in the size and weight specification of the application. Millennium Cell is advancing its HOD™ technology to enable fuel cartridges for PC, cell phones and PDA devices. The performance targets for these devices will be presented. Millennium Cell’s HOD™ technology is well poised to meet the specification requirements for these designs. This presentation will discuss the progress we have made in addressing the system design issues for sodium borohydride fuel cartridges to meet the development targets.

12:00 Advances in Fuel Cell Manufacturing and Reliability
Paul Osenar, PhD, Chief Technology Officer, Protonex Technology Corporation
With the aim of commercializing fuel cell power sources for portable and remote applications, Protonex currently offers a range of sub-kW PEM and DMFC stacks based on advanced manufacturing technology. These stacks are reliable, rugged and exhibit some of the best power densities available. Protonex stacks are affordable in low volume (1-100) and currently compatible with injection molding production (1,000+). With these attributes, Protonex stacks are currently being incorporated into a variety of systems, in conjunction with outside developers as well as through internal programs. Current products and ongoing efforts will be discussed.

12:30 Luncheon Sponsored by The Knowledge Foundation

1:55 Chairperson’s Remarks
Manfred Stefener, CEO, SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, Germany

2:00 Micro Fuel Cells - Energy for the Wireless Revolution
Jim O’Donnell, Vice President, New Products, Duracell, and
Alan Soucy, Chief Operating Officer, MTI MicroFuel Cells, Inc.

Abstract not available at time of printing.

2:30 Challenges Facing the Adoption of Small Fuel Cells in Wireless Applications
Ronald J. Kelley, PhD, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Advanced Product Technology Center, Motorola
Many fuel cell developers have targeted cellular phones as the first major application of fuel cell technology because of the high dollar to performance ratio commanded. However, these premium power applications also present some of the greatest system integration challenges. This presentation will focus on this and other issues preventing the adoption of fuel cells technology to cellular and other emerging wireless applications. Different types of requirements will be presented as they relate to real world user profiles. These will include handling dynamic loads, reliability, environmental conditions, cost, and user acceptance.

3:00 Micro-Fuel Cells: Will the Potential Meet the Expectation?
Walter V. Nasdeo, Managing Director, Head of Energy Technology, Ardour Capital Partners, LLC
This talk will center on the current state of consumer expectations as they relate to the micro-fuel cell sector. Discussion will include trends and developments coming out of the laboratories right up to the near commercialization of these devices. We will look at how the industry has evolved and how demand is being shaped by market forces.

3:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

4:00 Small Fuel Cells: Matching Supply and Demand in a New Industry
Mark Cropper, Deputy Editor, Fuel Cell Today
Drawing on extensive analysis and knowledge of small fuel cell markets, this presentation will examine portable fuel cell development from the perspective of customers and markets. What are the expectations of potential buyers, both of micro fuel cells (typically for electronics devices) and larger portable units, and are they being addressed? Portable units already on sale will be reviewed, to see if demand is matching expectations, and if not, why not.

4:30 Italian National Project “Development of Micro Fuel Cell for Applications in Portable Electronic Devices” - Strategy and Activities
Vincenzo Antonucci, PhD, Fuel Cells Research Manager, CNR-ITAE Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies, Italy
The Italian National Program on Portable Fuel Cells, coordinated by CNR-ITAE, will face all the technical issues connected with the realization of the first Italian demonstrative prototypes of micro FC for portable electronic devices, with particular attention to mobile phone and lap-top computers. The specific requirements of the system, both in terms of novel catalyst, electrode and membrane materials with relevant configurations and assembling technology, as well as different approaches of the engineering miniaturization challenges to be taken up in order to realize a practical device. Such an approach wants also be the basis for an actual and meaningful updating on the competitiveness of FCs for portable applications.
In collaboration with: E.Passalacqua, CNR-ITAE, Italy

5:00 Panel Discussion

Small Fuel Cells Business Model: Technology Push and Market Demand

Moderator:

Mark Cropper

Panelists:

Hyuk Chang
David Edlund
Jerry Hallmark
Ronald J. Kelley
Walter V. Nasdeo
Jim O’Donnell
Paul Osenar
Alan Soucy
Manfred Stefener

5:45 End of Day One

Friday, May 7, 2004

8:00 Coffee and Pastries, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

8:55 Chairperson’s Remarks
Ronald J. Kelley, PhD, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Advanced Product Technology Center, Motorola

9:00 Direct Methanol Fuel Cells for Portable Power: Promises and Potential Limitations
Piotr Zelenay, PhD, DSc, Technical Project Leader, Electronic and Electrochemical Materials and Devices, Los Alamos National Laboratory
In this presentation, we will review fundamental direct methanol effort in several key research areas and progress in stack development at Los Alamos National Laboratory in last two years. In addition to providing highlights from the DMFC research at LANL, we will discuss the advantages of the direct methanol fuel cell relative to other concepts of portable power generation as well as potential limitations of the DMFC technology.

9:30 DMFC Whole-Product Solutions by SFC Smart Fuel Cell
Manfred Stefener, CEO, SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, Germany
DMFC products have been successfully introduced into the market by SFC Smart Fuel Cell. This presentation focuses on the key success factors for commercialization of DMFC products. The technical solutions that SFC has developed to overcome the traditional “hurdles” of DMFC technology, e.g., methanol crossover and start-up, will be discussed. The differences between prototypes and products will be explained, e.g., aspects of product certification, supply chain management, fuel infrastructure, and regulatory approvals. Furthermore, the experience gathered from widespread use of the SFC A25 product in different markets is presented.

10:00 Comparative Evaluation of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Portable Power Sources: State of the Art and Projections
Shimshon Gottesfeld, PhD, Chief Technology Officer, MTI Microfuel Cells
The talk will provide state-of-the-art examination of the case for direct methanol fuel cells as a preferred power technology for portable consumer electronics applications. Comparison will be made vs. state-of-the-art alternative fuel cell technologies based on either liquid carbonaceous or hydrogen fuel and using different sets of key materials and components. Newest DMFC technology and product developments at MTI Microfuel Cells will be presented as part of this discussion.

10:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

11:00 20W DMFC for Note PC and Nano Materials Developments
Hyuk Chang, PhD, Principal Researcher, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung, Korea
Although the system size and cost are still in challenging, 20W DMFC stack and system for note PC will be presented. Within the range of acceptable surface temperature and fuel supplying condition of mobile devices, MEA power density of near 100 mW/cm² and compatible system energy density were achieved. In this presentation, several kinds of novel nanophase materials designed at SAIT, such as ordered mesoporous carbon, modified carbon nanotube and nanocomposite membranes will be presented along with the compact stack design. With these materials development efforts combined with miniaturized BOP, the commerc ialization of DMFC for mobile application will be realized.

11:30 Integration of Portable DMFC Systems
Jerry L. Martin, PhD, President, and
Christine M. Martin, Vice President, Mesoscopic Devices
For 20 to 200W DMFC systems, two-thirds of the system dry weight is in the balance of plant. System level optimization, not component level, is required to minimize the size and weight of the systems. We will discuss the considerations in a system level optimization, and highlight key trades which strongly influence the system.

12:00 New Electrode Materials for Fuel Cell Applications
Mark Hampden-Smith, PhD, Director, Business and Technology, Cabot Superior MicroPowders
One of the leading contributors to cost and performance of proton exchange membrane and methanol-fueled fuel cells is the electrode layer in the membrane electrode assembly. The cost contribution is derived from a relatively high loading of costly precious metals and the strong influence on performance derives from the need for highly efficient fuel and oxidant conversion, avoidance of flooding and in the case of direct methanol fuel cells, reduction in methanol cross-over. In this presentation recent developments in the use of new materials and printing approaches to address these issues will be described.
In collaboration with: P.Atanassova, R.Bhatia, B.Gurau, R.Meisem, Cabot Superior MicroPowdres

12:30 Lunch on Your Own

1:55 Chairperson’s Remarks
Mark Cropper, Deputy Editor, Fuel Cell Today

2:00 New Nano-Catalysts and Reduction of Component Costs for Portable Fuel Cells
Emory De Castro, PhD, General Manger, E-TEK Division, De Nora North America, Inc.
In addition to the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC), other applications such as the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) and high temperature PEFC are receiving a high degree of research and development activity in order to bring these power technologies closer to commercialization. The E-TEKsm product line provides high power catalysts and gas diffusion layers or gas diffusion electrodes as key components in Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA), and these products are used extensively throughout the technical community addressing small fuel cells. This paper discuses improved platinum and platinum ruthenium catalysts, as well as new low cost machine-made ELAT® structures and their use in various fuel cell applications.

2:30 Microfabricated Micro-Fuel Cells
Levi T. Thompson, PhD, Associate Dean and Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
Fuel cells are being developed for applications ranging from the replacement of batteries in portable electronic devices to use in powering automobiles. One of the key challenges to the wide-spread commercialization of fuel cells is their high cost. Modern microfabrication techniques offer the potential for significantly decreasing the costs for manufacturing fuel cells, in a manner similar to that achieved with microelectronic devices. Micro-fuel cells also hold promise for being highly efficient. This talk will describe our use microfabrication technologies including nano-imprintation to produce thin film micro-fuel cells with new high temperature membrane materials, integrated heaters and temperature sensors.

3:00 Microelectronic Fabrication of Hydrogen Powered MEMs Fuel Cell
Didier Marsacq, PhD, Head of Small Power Sources Laboratory, National Atomic Agency of France, France
Our MEMs Fuel Cell technology is now in its final stage of development and is ready for integration into portable electronic devices. (1) A technological process used for manufacturing the MEMs Fuel Cell, and the original electrochemical testing procedure applied to each abricated MEMs fuel cell to determine the performance characteristics and technology limitation will be described. (2) An integration process aimed at building the power generating sources consisting of MEMs fuel cell, Li-battery and other electronic devices will be explained. (3) Current results and development strategy in our liquid fuel cell project will be discussed.

3:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing

4:00 A Novel Micro Fuel Cell Topology for High Speed Manufacturing
Kevin G. Stanley, Project Leader, National Research Council of Canada - Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, Canada
Below approximately 100 cm³ the traditional plate and frame architecture for fuel cells is no longer appropriate. Significant volume is consumed by seals and end plates, reducing volumetric power density. However, removing compression increases internal impedances. A new architecture and manufacturing proces s has been developed which uses micromachining techniques to manufacture stencils and molds, but printing and laminating processes for the cell itself. The design concept, fabrication process and performance results will be presented.
In collaboration with: E.Czyzewska, Q.M.J.Wu, NRC

4:30 Planar, Series Connected Fuel Cells Based on Printed Circuit Board Material
Christopher Hebling, PhD, Head of Energy Technology Dept, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany
For the successful integration of fuel cells into electronic appliances, the formfactor must be in accordance with the existing cavities of the respective device. For many applications, it offers plenty of advantages if the fuel cell design is rather flat in order to be used as part of the housing. For such applications we developed a flat series connected fuel cell design based on inexpensive printed board material with an open cathode for passive operation. A two-dimensional simulation model for the self-breathing cathode was set up in order to quantify the shielding effects of the current collector for gaseous diffusion.

5:00 Selected Oral Poster Presentations. Discussion

5:30 Concluding Remarks. End of Conference

Call for Posters

Industry and academic scientists are encouraged to submit poster titles for this event. One-page abstracts (8 1/2" x 11" with 1-inch margins) must be submitted no later than April 16, 2004 for inclusion in conference documentation. Additional poster submissions will be accepted until May 1, 2004 but may not be included in conference documentation.

DIMENSIONS of the poster boards are:
4 feet wide by 3 feet high
(although it could be placed vertically as well and then the dimentsions obviously would be 3'w x 4'h)

Note: If you're submitting a poster, you MUST be registered and paid registration fee plus posterboard reservation fee in advance to ensure that a posterboard is reserved for you.

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