Register today for an ECS Short Course on "Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells"
at the bi-annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts!
This comprehensive and informative full-day Short Course, presented in two parts by Dr. Hubert Gasteiger and Dr. Thomas Schmidt, will develop the fundamental thermodynamics and electrocatalytic processes critical to polymer electrolyte fuel cells, including direct methanol and alkaline membrane fuel cells. If you are in the first two years of a bachelor's program in physics, chemistry, engineering, or have several years of experience in PEFCs this course will be of significant value to your research and work. Because space is limited, we encourage you to register early.
During the first part of the course, Drs. Gasteiger and Schmidt will discuss the relevant half-cell reactions, their thermodynamic driving forces, and their mathematical foundations in electrocatalysis theory (e.g., Butler-Volmer equations). Subsequently, this theoretical framework will be applied to catalyst characterization and the evaluation of kinetic parameters like activation energies, exchange current densities, reaction orders, etc.
In Part 2, the instructors will illuminate the different functional requirements of actual PEFC (incl. DMFC and AMFC) components and present basic in situ diagnostics (Pt surface area, shorting, H2 crossover, electronic resistance, etc.). This will be used to develop an in-depth understanding of the various voltage loss terms that constitute a polarization curve. Finally, we will apply this learning to describe the principles of fuel cell catalyst activity measurements, the impact of uncontrolled-operation events (e.g., cell reversal), and the various effects of long-term materials degradation.
Dr. Gasteiger became full professor at the Technische Universität München in the spring of 2010, chairing the Institute of Technical Electrochemistry. He co-authored 70 peer-reviewed publications, 13 book chapters, and 29 patents/patent applications. He also served as Editor-In-Chief for Wiley's Handbook of Fuel Cells - Fundamentals, Technology, and Applications (2003 & 2009) and currently leads the ECS Fuel Cell Subcommittee. In 2004, he received the Klaus-Jürgen Vetter Award for Electrochemical Kinetics from the International Society of Electrochemistry.
Dr. Schmidt became full professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and head of the Electrochemical Energy Conversion Section in the Electrochemistry Laboratory at Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen. Dr. Schmidt has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, eleven peer-reviewed book chapters, and he is the inventor on 20 patent applications. He recently served as co-editor of the book entitled Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Durability (Springer). Dr. Schmidt is the 2010 recipient of the ECS Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award.
Register today-space is limited! Your registration fee covers the one-day course, all text materials, continental breakfast, luncheon, and refreshment breaks. ECS member and student discounts are available. For more information visit http://www.electrochem.org/education/short_courses/220/220_sc5_pefc.htm.
