The electric car, which was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was phased out with the introduction of the gasoline car in the 1930’s. Now, faculty and students at the School of Engineering and Applied Science are working to bring it back.
Engineering professor Karen Winey is developing electric car technology that uses fuel cells that harness electricity from chemical reactions. If successful, her research would phase out the need for gasoline in automobiles.
An electric car is an alternative fuel automobile that uses electric motors and motor controllers for propulsion, instead of the more common internal combustion engine.
Winey’s research team is in the process of creating the technology needed for an efficient, low-temperature fuel cell.
By using nanotechnology to create better polymers — natural and synthetic materials — these fuel cells would be able operate virtually continuously as long as the necessary energy flow is maintained.
The polymers carry the ability to conduct an electrical charge across their surfaces. Although they are already used to conduct electricity generated by the reactions in a fuel cell, Winey is leading the first group to use scanning transmission electron microscopy to “image” the placement and conductivity of the electrons in existing polymers.
“It’s very much like photography — we take images of these polymers, and can then analyze them,” explained Engineering professor Michelle Seitz, who is working with Winey on the project.
The results of this research are then used to map out a combination of the polymers to create even more efficient ones for fuel-cell membranes. This will allow for cleaner automobiles run by fuel cells with longer lives.
“We’re not focused on building the next most efficient system,” said Seitz. “Our research focuses on how one component can be made more efficient to make the entire system work better.”
The research team is made up of faculty and students, both undergraduate and graduate. During the academic year, it is mostly graduate students who work with Winey, but over the summer several undergraduate students were involved with the research.
“The reason I came to Karen’s group is because they have the experimental capability to answer unknown questions about these materials,” said Seitz, who has been working with the group since September.
According to Winey, the group knows what steps are necessary to create this technology, though not exactly how to proceed.
“We haven’t had that breakthrough yet,” she said, “but once we do, everything will fall into place.”
