HPU Students Study Electrochemical Systems

The Howard Payne University Department of Chemistry is excited about a new instrument available on campus to allow students to study electrochemical systems. The Potentiostat Galvanostat, on loan to the university from Arbin Instruments of College Station, allows students to charge or discharge batteries and other types of electrochemical systems under study.

Dr. Derek Smith, assistant professor of physical science at HPU, worked at Arbin Instruments from 1999-2003.  He is currently using the machine in his Instrumental Analysis class for advanced chemistry majors.

“We are greatly appreciative of Arbin Instruments for loaning us this instrument,” said Smith.  “It provides a resource for our students that we would not have otherwise had access to. We hope to procure funding to buy an instrument like this one in the future. The experience that our students gain with the loaner will enable to us to be immediately productive when we install our own.”

As seen in: Brownwood Bulletin, v108, 104, 1/26, p. 3

Arbin offers education testing systems at discounted rates.  If you would like more information on these special offers, contact sales@arbin.com
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Photo by: Kalie Lowrie
Dr. Derek Smith (left) shows Senior Matthew Byrd (right) how to use the Potentiostat Galvanostat, on loan to Howard Payne University from Arbin Instruments of College Station.

Spring Special

Arbin is offering a spring special on our

ICMAT 2007, 2009 Looks Promising

Written by: Dr. SRS Prabharan, Nottingham University, Malaysia Campus
 

Encouraged by the successes of ICMAT 2001, ICMAT 2003, and ICMAT 2005 at which more than 2,000 members of the international scientific and materials research community representing over 40 countries attended, the Materials Research Society of Singapore hosted the 4^th ICMAT on July 1-6, 2007 held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SICEC).

ICMAT 2007 contained 18 Symposia covering contemporary topics of importance for the science, engineering and technology of materials.  The technical program includes Plenary, Keynote, Invited, Oral and Poster presentations.  More than 50 international exhibitors from all sectors of materials science and engineering communities took part in showcasing their products and equipment during the conference.  In keeping with the previous ICMAT conferences, two Noble Laureates attended and delivered the plenary lectures at the conference.

They are K. Barry Sharpless, Noble Laureate in Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), La Jolla, California, USA

 Topic: Chemistry ant the “Kiss Principle”

 Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel laureate in Physics, College de France and Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, France

 Topic: Atoms and Photons.

Thus, ICMAT 2007 served as a multidisciplinary forum providing over 2,000 research scientists and engineers a first-hand learning platform, as well as the opportunity to share and exchange ideas with some of the best minds in the field.

Amongst 18 symposia, Symposium K was devoted to nanostructure materials for electrochemical power sources such as Lithium-Ion battery, supercapacitor and fuel cells.  Symposium K addressed the current state-of-the-art advancement in electrochemical power sources focusing on nanostructured materials.

Special attention was also focused on Phospho-Olivine cathodes which are regarded as low cost and environment friendly materials toward achieving zero emission goals.

The conference was attended by 1750 participants from all over the world. In which Symposium K was attended by 111 participant including 30 invited/keynote speakers from Australia, China, France, Japan, Korea, UK and USA shared their expertise in the field of Electrochemical power sources.

In conjunction with this bi-annual conference, the Global Enterprise for Micro-Mechanics and Molecular Medicine (GEM4), a new paradigm in global interactions among leading institutions to work together seamlessly across the boundaries of science, engineering, technology, medicine and public health, will also hold its first Conference on Cancer. The organization for the GEM4 Conference on Cancer provides further possibility for interaction with medical researchers.

The 5^th biannual ICMAT, will take place on June 28-July 3, 2009.  If 2007 was any indication of what they have planned, it will be a conference worth attending.

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New Product, 20kW Water-cooled Stack FCTS

Varta-Singapore's Tester, Thirteen Years of Accuracy

Relative Humidity and Water Transport in PEMFC

By Dr. Sam Park of Arbin Instruments

For proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, proper water management is important to obtain maximum performance. Water management includes the humidity levels of the inlet gases as well as the understanding of the water process within the fuel cell.

Two important processes associated with this understanding are (1) electro-osmotic drag of water molecules, and (2) back diffusion of the water molecules. The current work has obtained fuel cell  performance as functions of the humidity level at the anode and cathode sites. The fuel cell used in this work included a membrane and electrode assembly (MEA) which possessed an active area of 25 cm² and Nafion® 117 membrane.

In understanding the water process within the fuel cell, the exhaust back pressure was found to be a useful indicator of the water content within the cell. For the cases of dry operation, the average back pressure at the anode site continued to increase due to the back diffusion. This back diffusion was a result of the water concentration gradient between the anode and the cathode.

Once residual moisture has been removed from the cell, the operation using dry hydrogen and air could not produce power. The removal of the residual moisture required over an hour of operation. This result implies that results for dry inlet gases are only valid after steady-state has been obtained and the residual moisture has been removed.

Increasing the relative humidity of the inlet gases from 50% to 100% at the cathode improved the current density from 840 to 1175 mA/cm² for 0.2 volts. In contrast, increasing the relative humidity of the inlet gases at the anode only improved the current density from 800 to 975 mA/cm² for 0.2 volts. In general, the humidity at the cathode is more important than the humidity at the anode.

Cases examined with 100% relative humidity at both the anode and cathode did not produce the highest performance due to water flooding at the high current density and gas permeability. The voltage decreased faster than for other cases for current densities greater than 800 mA/cm².
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Arbin Expands to Singapore

From a small garage to offices in the US and northern China, Arbin Instruments has become one of the leading companies in the development and manufacturing of battery, supercapacitor and fuel cell testing equipment.  With representatives in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan, and now Singapore.  Arbin continues to grow and develop in new markets. 

In Singapore, Arbin is collaborating with Mr. Patrick Tham (pictured right) of Palico Biotech, PTE, LTD. Palico Biotech is an experienced and established distributor for Drug Discovery and Life Science products in Singapore as well as other technology-based equipment.

Arbin is optimistic about the prosperity of the new partnership.  For a full list of Arbin’s Worldwide contacts please visit:  www.arbin.com/company/world-contact.htm.
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Arbin's 2008 Factory Training Dates

April 21-22
May 5-6 or 19-20
June 9-10 or 23-24
July 14-15 or 28-29
August 11-12 or 25-26
September 8-9
October 6-7 or 27-28
November 17-18
December 1-2 or 15-16

Please contact Kevin Duff at support@arbin.com
or (979)690-2751 x 124 for more information.
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Upcoming Arbin Exhibits