Flexible Fuel Cells

For a number of reasons, the hydrogen economy — proposed as a replacement for our carbon-based economy — has been frustratingly slow to materialize. For one thing, the infrastructure needed to deliver hydrogen around the country simply doesn't exist.

Yannick Kimmel (ChE '09) and Michael Bruce (ChE '08) are working with Assistant Chemical Engineering Professor Steven McIntosh to perfect the solid oxide fuel cell — a cell with the advantage of being able to use any commonly available combustible fuel, including gasoline, diesel and biofuels.

Kimmel and Bruce are concentrating on optimizing the fuel cell's anode, where electrons are generated, for use with methane. They are adjusting the amount of catalyst in the anode to provide the best reaction and loading it with the right amount of copper to provide the best conductivity.

Finding a place in McIntosh's lab was straightforward for both students. Kimmel saw a notice that McIntosh placed in a publication produced by the U.Va. student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He contacted McIntosh and soon found himself with a summer job. Bruce took another approach. He interviewed a number of professors before meeting with McIntosh.

Working in a lab has been something of a revelation for them. “It takes persistence and determination to make a contribution,” says Bruce. “You need to stay focused and pay close attention to the details to get the best data possible.”

Butanol Biosynthesis

Think of synthetic biologists as characters in American Chopper. They insert genetic parts within cells, creating customized cellular bikes that have been fine-tuned for a specific purpose. In the case of the student-organized team that competed in MIT's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition last fall, the goal was to soup up a cell so that it could synthesize butanol from cellulose and light.

“We wanted to design a novel metabolic pathway for butanol production using modular genetic material from marine bacteria,” says Amy Schell (BME '08), one of five members of the Virginia team. Butanol is an excellent candidate for an alternative fuel because, unlike ethanol, its energy density approaches that of gasoline and it is not corrosive to existing pipelines.

Schell joined other members of the team, which consists of George McArthur (ChE '08), Kevin Hershey (ChE '08), Ranjan Khan (BME '09) and biology major Emre Ruhi ('08), in raising funds for the project, recruiting faculty advisers and securing space to conduct the research. “We didn't get as far in our experiments as we would have liked,” she says, “but in the process of establishing an iGEM team at U.Va., we gained firsthand exposure to all the things you have to do to launch a successful research effort.”

Schell's experience with iGEM, as well as research she conducted with Biomedical Engineering Professor Richard Price on angiogenesis, has affected her career plans. She still intends to go to medical school next year, but now she also wants to do research. “I found that I love the basic sciences,” she says. “I would love to combine the perspective of a PhD with that of an MD.”

Organic Solar Panels

Traditional solar panels are made of silicon, but silicon is expensive, difficult to manufacture and shatters like glass. Joseph Nedy (EE '09) is working with Electrical Engineering Professor Mool Gupta to find a durable, less costly replacement for silicon that is as efficient and can be made using existing microfabrication methods. They have turned to organic polymers.

Chemists at Virginia Tech produce the polymers, and Nedy, with Gupta's guidance, is researching ways to use them to fabricate higher-efficiency solar cell devices and evaluate their electrical and optical characteristics. “These organic molecules absorb more light than silicon,” Nedy says, “but they do not transport electrical charges efficiently.” To increase their efficiency, Gupta envisions coating them with carbon nanotubes.

One reason that Nedy enjoys the project is that he is helping to break new ground. “We are working in an area that is increasingly a focus of new research,” he says. He also values being part of a team. He is working with a graduate student and meets with Gupta at least once a week to report on his progress and ask questions. “Professor Gupta is very accessible,” Nedy says, “but he has high expectations.”

Nedy has the ideal qualifications for the effort: he is a materials science minor who spent a year at the Micron DRAM facility in Manassas while establishing Virginia residency. “I enjoyed my stay at Micron, but I also appreciate the freedom you have in an academic laboratory to do the experiments you like.”