Ceramic art

摘要

An iron-oxide ceramic membrane could allow fuel cells to operate without losing efficiency as the temperature rises and the humidity drops. This could benefit many fuel cell applications such as cars driven in extreme heat, submarines and remote weather stations. Mark Wiesner, the project's lead researcher at North Carolina's Duke University's School of Engineering, said current polymer cell membranes only function efficiently in humid environments. 'If the polymer membrane dries out, its efficiency drops,' he said. 'We have developed a ceramic membrane made of iron nanoparticles that works at much lower humidities and higher temperatures.