Argonne and Illinois to fuel further technology development

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois’s Grainger College of Engineering have announced the formation of the Midwest Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Coalition. MechSE professor Petros Sofronis will head the new coalition.

“This partnership with Argonne is just the beginning of what we hope will become a Midwest energy hub,” Sofronis said. “It may expand quickly to include the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, Purdue University, as well as industrial partners.”

Fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water, can be used in multiple sectors for transportation, stationary power, and industrial applications.

“There is an outstanding tradition of research in The Grainger College of Engineering in the area of hydrogen interaction with materials that dates back to the 1980s,” said Dean Rashid Bashir. “We are moving this tradition to the next level from the basic science to alloy and device development.”

There is great potential for hydrogen and fuel cells to provide energy resilience and security, reduce emissions, and foster economic growth, according to Ted Krause, Argonne’s Fuel Cell Laboratory Program Manager and a department head with Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division.