This collaborative project focuses on the study of the durability of solid oxide cells with Dr. Jacob Bowen and others at Riso National Laboratory in Denmark; (this institution has recently merged with the Danish Technical University (DTU)). Travel for four extended U.S. graduate student visits and two senior investigator visits to Denmark are anticipated over a three-year period.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: This project will support activities that apply image processing and analysis to microstructure image data sets, address the durability of solid oxide fuel cells, help establish the standards for 3D reconstruction and data analysis methods, and examine the use of solid oxide cells for renewable fuel production. This project will allow graduate students to spend extended periods at Riso/DTU, which is one of the premiere labs in the world in the area of solid oxide cells that can be used as fuel cells or electrolyzers. Students will gain broader experience in their field, make important contacts, and convey their exciting new results through presentations at Northwestern University. The knowledge gained from these interactions will also positively impact the undergraduate students working on a closely-related NSF project. It is anticipated that the stronger interaction between these two groups, already both at the forefront of 3D tomography and analysis, will advance this field and speed its impact on the basic science and technology of ceramic electrochemical devices.
This travel grant funded approximately 6 person-months spent by Northwestern University research personnel visiting the Energy Conversion division of Risø/DTU. It also indirectly led to 10 more person-months of interaction between Northwestern University and Risø/DTU. Scott Cronin visited Risø/DTU from May 30 to June 24, 2011, and Kyle Yakal-Kremski visited from June 6 - July 1, 2011. During these approximately one month visits, Scott Barnett also visited for one week (June 19 - 26, 2011). Then, Kyle Yakal-Kremski, David Kennouche, and Elizabeth Miller visited for approximately one month each in April and May of 2013. Scott Barnett was on sabbatical at Risø/DTU at this time (from March through June, 2013), based on having received an Otto Mønsted Guest Professorship (proposal submitted by Dr Jacob Bowen of Risø/DTU). See the attached image of the Northwestern visitors along with Jacob Bowen and Peter Jorgensen of DTU at the Risø campus. All the visitors participated in a workshop on CO2 Utilization and Conversion at Risø/DTU in April 2013. Finally, Søren Jensen, a staff researcher at Risø/DTU, elected to spend a 6-month sabbatical at Northwestern University, from September 2012 through February 2013, after our initial visit. The Northwestern University personnel met and interacted with a large number of staff members at Riso/DTU. The students gained valuable experience in international collaboration. Scott Barnett also presented research colloquia on the fuel-cell-related research during each of his visits. Barnett has also been invited to speak on 3D imaging at a battery workshop at Risø/DTU in February, 2014. Based on the collaborative work done under this funding, a paper has been submitted to Journal of Power Sources. A major review article covering the field of 3D tomographic measurements of fuel cells and batteries, authored by Barnett, Jacob Bowen (Risø/DTU), and Katsuyo Thornton (Univ Michigan), was mostly completed and will be submitted for publication early in 2014. Finally, Barnett became involved in a number of research activities at Risø/DTU, including proposals for research in Denmark; he will be involved as an international collaborator in the recently-funded CINEMA project, related to imaging of energy materials.
