The Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) programme is based upon the beneficiation of South Africa's large platinum group metal (pgm) resources. The present article summarises some of the progress by HySA Systems, one of the three Competence Centres under the HySA Programme, since 2008. Work has been carried out on membrane electrode assembly and stack development for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) for use in combined heat and power (CHP) supplied by natural gas and hydrogen fuelled vehicle (HFV) applications. The emphasis is on improved carbon monoxide tolerance and simplified heat and humidity management, allowing simpler fuel cell systems to be designed. Metal hydrides modified with palladium are being explored as poisoning-tolerant hydrogen storage materials for stationary and special mobile applications, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) modified with platinum as light-weight hydrogen storage with a high hydrogen storage capacity. Lastly research into hydrogen purification using Pd membrane reactors is focused on membrane support synthesis, hollow fibre seeding and development of the plating procedure.
Recently lithium-ion batteries have started to be used in a number of automotive passenger car applications. This paper will review these applications and compare the requirements of the applications with the capabilities of the lithium-ion chemistries that are actually being used. The gaps between these requirements and capabilities will be highlighted and future developments that may be able to fill these gaps will be discussed. It is concluded that while improvements to the lithium-ion cell chemistry will help reduce the weight of battery packs for electric vehicle applications the largest weight gains will come from the pack design.
The Ulm Electrochemical Talks are held annually in Ulm, Germany. The 14th meeting, held from 23rd–26th June, 2014, focused on the topic of “Next Generation Electrochemical Energy Technologies”. Fuel cells and batteries are described as the dominant technologies to deliver the e-mobility vision within the next few decades. This selective review will focus on battery technologies and supercapacitors; although there was also plenty of material on the equally important topic of fuel cells which is not covered here.
Introduction “Electrochemistry: Volume 14” is a collated book of five papers edited by Craig Banks (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) and Steven McIntosh (Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA, USA), both of whom are well established in the field with research interests covering the topics in the book. The book is one of a series which aims to collate and summarise the key topics receiving...
