Friday, August 22, 2008

Nanotech will drive fuel cell efforts

By Catherine Williams, Special to Mass High Tech

With a global focus on soaring energy costs, industry analysts say fuel cell discovery could get a boost from a nationwide rise in nanotechnology investments in the energy and environment sectors.

Studies suggest there are big opportunities for scientists practicing small fuel cell science. Despite a larger pool of investment dollars, however, experts say the widespread use of nanotechnology in fuel cells could be years away.

Ravindra Datta, professor of chemical engineering and fuel cell researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said nanotechnology has the potential to push fuel cell discoveries into the commercial marketplace but said the infusion of the technology has been slow.

“The work is starting in that direction, but it will be a few years before it has significant impact on the field,” said Datta.

Two New England companies — Wilmington-based battery developer Lilliputian Systems Inc. and Lowell-based solar energy developer Konarka Technologies Inc. — are competing against leading firms in New York and California for advances in fuel cell nanotechnology, said Jurron Bradley, senior analyst at New York-based Lux Research Inc.

Bradley said NanoDynamics Inc. and QuantumSphere Inc. are leaders in the field.

Fuel cell nanotechnology investment could bring big returns because scientists use nanotechnology — the science of developing materials at scales of less than 100 nanometers — to develop catalysts to replace expensive materials such as platinum, said Bradley. Nanomaterials can lower cost and increase power density, he said.

“One of the biggest areas of venture capital investment in nanotechnology is in the energy and environment sectors,” said Bradley.

In 2007, venture funding for nanotechnology in those sectors rose 18 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to Bradley. Those industries grabbed the biggest slice — valued at $227 million — of the $702 million invested in nanotechnology in 2007. Life sciences and health care nanotechnology investment came in at No. 2 with $188 million. The ranking was reverse in 2006, with life sciences and health care on top with $244 million, compared with $193 million for the energy and environment industries.

Government and private investment in nanotechnology research and development in the United States is more than $3 billion annually, according to a June 2008 report by Houston-based Plunkett Research Ltd. In 2007, the federal government spent $1.5 billion on nanotech research, more than three times as much spent in 2001. Some of the most promising applications of nanotech are in fuel cells and solar energy to power mobile devices, according to Plunkett.

Nanotechnology is being widely used in low-temperature fuel cells, according to Uday Pal, mechanical engineering professor at Boston University. Scientists develop the cells, which are used to power mobile devices like robots, at temperatures of 80 degrees centigrade. Pal specializes in high-temperature fuel cells — developed between 700 degrees and 1,000 degrees centigrade — for power generation in commercial and residential applications. Pal and Datta said all fuel cell manufacturing involves some form of nanotechnology.

“Nanotechnology in clean energy is an excellent area. It’s a good thing to invest in,” said Datta.
 

Catherine Williams is a freelance reporter in Boston.