Abstract: The transition to a low carbon economy to avoid the climate change requires green hydrogen, fuel cells, and carbon capture. Green hydrogen is necessary for the decarbonization of the sectors of our economy that are inaccessible by renewable electrons, such as ammonia synthesis. For low temperature electrolzyers for green hydrogen generation and fuel cells for transportation, polymer electrolytes play a central role in controlling their cost, performance, and durability, and consequently their economic viability. In this presentation, I will focus on our work on hydroxide exchange membrane electrolyzers (HEMELs) and fuel cells (HEMFCs) that do not require precious metal catalysts and expensive stack components. I will also show our recent work on carbon capture using hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells.
Bio: Yushan Yan is the Henry Belin du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. He served as the founding Associate Dean for Research and Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, Department Chair at the University of California Riverside and Senior Staff Engineer/Project Leader at AlliedSignal. His recognitions include University Scholar Professor from the University of California Riverside, Presidential Chair from the University of California, Distinguished Engineering Professor from the University of Delaware, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Donald Breck Award from the International Zeolite Association, the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Energy Technology Division Research Award from the Electrochemical Society, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Braskem Award for Materials Science and Engineering from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Fellow of the Electrochemical Society. He was one of 37 awardees of the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E OPEN 2009, one of 66 awardees of the ARPA-E OPEN 2012, and one of 40 ARPA-E OPEN 2018. He has been an inventor on a number of issued or pending patents, some of which were licensed to form startup companies (e.g., NanoH2O). He is currently the founder and CEO of a University of Delaware spinout W7energy (W7enery.com). His research has led to 250+ publications that are widely cited (19,000+ citations; h-index = 75, Web of Science; h-index = 82, Google Scholar), and extensively covered by the media including New Scientist, Business Week, C&EN News, Materials Today, MRS360, Chemical Engineering Progress, China Press, Chinese Daily News, CNBC, CNN.com, KABC, Radio Australia, and VOA. He studied Chemical Physics (BS) at the University of Science and Technology of China, Heterogeneous Catalysis at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chemical Engineering (PhD) at the California Institute of Technology.
Note: This is a hybrid event. To attend virtually use Zoom ID 919 5918 2879 with passcode 270887.