The Pennsylvania NanoMaterials
Commercialization Center has announced that it has funded HydroGen
Corporation to develop and manufacture enhanced performance hydrogen fuel
cell electrodes. The new electrodes will use novel carbon nanotubes to
improve the performance and lifetime of the electrodes, thereby reducing
overall costs for fuel cell operations.
The Center is providing $230,314 in Ben Franklin Technology Development
Authority funding to support this project. HydroGen is providing $131,545
in match to this funding amount.
HydroGen Corp. manufactures megawatt scale fuel cell systems using the
company's 400 kilowatt air-cooled phosphoric acid fuel cell technology in
its Versailles, PA manufacturing facility. HydroGen has entered into a
partnership with the University of Pittsburgh to assess the use of
commercially available single-wall carbon nanotubes for fuel cell electrode
catalysts. The project is expected to allow HydroGen to manufacture an
improved fuel cell electrode and expand its fuel cell business worldwide.
HydroGen is the third company this month to receive funding from the
Center.
Previously this month, the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization
Center had announced the funding for two other commercialization projects
in nanomaterials.
Integran Technologies USA was awarded $248,241 in U.S. Air Force
Research Laboratory funding to develop a novel new nanomaterials coaxial
wire technology. This project will help to establish this new wire
technology as a fully proven, mass production-ready process and to create a
new technology and market support center in Pittsburgh to serve the wiring
industry across the U.S. Integran is providing $80,000 in matching funds.
Crystalplex Corp. was awarded $220,000 in Ben Franklin Technology
Development Authority funding to commercialize innovative new quantum dot
technology. Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor crystals that have
unique optical properties. This project will use these nano-sized devices
to improve the efficiency, while reducing the costs of light emitting
diodes (LEDs) used in energy saving lighting and electronic displays.
Crystalplex is providing $55,000 in matching funds for this project.
"We, indeed, are fortunate to have such a wide field of enterprising
nanomaterials company's in Pennsylvania," said Alan Brown, executive
director of the NanoMaterials Commercialization Center. "With the addition
of HydroGen, along with Integran and Crystalplex, the Center now has six
early stage nanomaterials companies in its portfolio. In addition, we
anticipate that there will be several more companies in our next round of
funding that are developing projects that are equally as promising.
In April of this year, the Center funded three other Pennsylvania
companies, including NanoRDC, LLC for $51,250; Plextronics, Inc. for
200,500 and Illuminex Corporation for 300,000.
The Center requested pre-proposal white papers prior to the formal
proposals that resulted in the current crop of submissions, which in turn
involved a broad range of partnerships between universities and small and
large companies statewide. Each proposer received feedback from the Center
on the suitability of their white paper and adherence to the Center's
guidelines, along with advice on submitting a full proposal.
All proposals in the current round were judged by the Center's
technical advisory committee that recommended the most promising ideas to
the Center's governing board for funding. The advisory committee is made up
of 19 leading researchers in the field of nanotechnology from Pennsylvania
universities, small and large technology companies and federal
laboratories.
The grants were made possible as a result of funding from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Air Force. A grant totaling $1
million from the state's Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority to
the Center was announced by Governor Rendell in August, 2006. This state
support is part of the Pennsylvania Initiative in Nanotechnology which is
intended to capitalize on the exciting new field of nanotechnology to
create new companies and high technology jobs throughout the commonwealth.
To date, the Center has received total funding in the amount of $1,743,424
from the Air Force Research Labs through the Wright Brothers Institute in
Dayton, Ohio.
The invitation for the next round of proposals will be open in November
of 2007, with additional awards expected in early 2008.
The mission of the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center
is to promote and support the commercialization of nanomaterials research
for new and enhanced products critical to the U.S. economy and
manufacturing base. The Center builds upon Pennsylvania's excellence in
advanced materials research, development and manufacturing, and it acts as
a new model for a public-private partnership among government,
universities, entrepreneurs, small and large companies to accelerate the
transition from nanomaterials invention and innovation to new products and
new companies.
Visit:
http://www.pananocenter.org
http://www.integran.com
http://www.crystalplex.com
http://www.hydrogenllc.com
http://www.nanordc.com
http://www.illuminex.biz
http://www.plextronics.com
Pennsylvania Initiative in Nanotechnology: http://www.newpa.com/newsDetail.aspx?id=500
