Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre

Fuel cells create electrical energy by combining hydrogen as a fuel with oxygen, with the only by-product being water and heat. They provide a clean and sustainable pathway to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. The chemical feedstock for fuel cells can be hydrogen using low-temperature fuel cells such as proton exchange membrane (PEM) and anion exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cells. At elevated temperatures, alternative feedstocks such as alcohols and hydrocarbons can also be utilised using solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

We work to address scientific challenges to enable the realisation of more affordable and higher-performance fuel cell technologies:

• For PEM, the need is to identify affordable catalysts.
• For AEM, the primary challenge is to find a stable membrane.
• For SOFCs, the grand challenge is to mitigate material challenges that come with operation at elevated temperatures.

We design new materials that will mitigate these technological barriers, and explore fundamental chemistry and physics to understand the intricacies of fuel cell performance.

As the grid shifts to an ever-increasing renewable portfolio, storing vast amounts of intermittently generated electricity becomes more urgent. Hydrogen generation through water electrolysis offers one promising solution. 

Our researchers explore various electrochemical-based hydrogen devices suitable for large-scale energy conversion and storage applications. We’re interested in identifying materials and methods that reduce the number of expensive catalysts utilised in electrolysers. These electrolysers use electrical energy from renewables to split water to generate green hydrogen

To increase capacity, we explore novel systems that allow direct compression of the generated hydrogen for transport and efficient materials and methods to store hydrogen.

Breakthrough materials innovations are required to deliver energy conversion and storage technologies at scale and competitive prices. We explore developing more durable, efficient and abundant components for energy conversion and storage devices.

For example, identifying materials as active and stable as platinum for fuel cells and iridium for electrolyser will benefit systems utilising proton exchange membranes. Other technologies, such as the membranes for ion exchange devices and solid oxide fuel cells will have to be tailored for their niche applications.

We approach the challenges from the fundamental chemical and materials point of view. We synthesise advanced materials using solution and solid-state methods, characterise the components using advanced state-of-the-art techniques and assess device performance using benchmarking protocols.

Our researchers collaborate extensively with teams in universities in the UK and worldwide to achieve these goals. We believe our collaborations are essential for:

• the progression of the research field.
• the intellectual growth of students.
• granting us access to government labs and industrial facilities that house some of the most sophisticated scientific instruments.

Another strategy to improve performance and reduce the cost of energy technologies is to engineer more efficient devices.

For a scientific breakthrough to translate from lab-scale success to a commercially relevant product, rigorous testing and extensive engineering are required. We work with innovators, businesses and policymakers to identify device modifications to fit their needs.

Energy conversion and storage devices are inherently complex and expensive to operate and explore in laboratory experiments. Software and hardware developments simulate these devices at micro, nano and atomic scales. We will deploy modelling and simulations using state-of-the-art technologies to gain system insights into fuel cells and electrolysers that are either too expensive or take too long to investigate using experiments. These findings will help us better components, fabricate better devices and deploy more efficient systems.