About MPA-11

Group Profile & Capabilities.... In the News .... A Bit of History .... Learning Center

The Sensors & Electrochemical Devices Group (MPA-11) conducts basic and applied research on electronic and ionic conducting materials, including the development of novel materials characterization approaches. Our research forms a basis for development in device technology and practical application of materials.

Group Profile & Capabilities

Our major projects include research on polymer electrolyte fuel cells and related conducting polymer electrochemical devices, fundamental research on catalysis, electrochemical sensor technology for chemical and biochemical detection, electrochemical applications of high temperature ceramics, acoustic nondestructive testing for chemical and biological agent detection, basic and applied work on organic electronics and electroluminescent polymers, and research on spintronics devices.

We support a suite of capabilities in materials and device development and characterization, including a clean room for device fabrication, which we use extensively in multiple collaborations with industry.

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In the News

Problem-Solving Ace
The position of “problem solver” is not officially listed on Dipen Sinha’s curriculum vitae, but a quick look at his credentials leaves no doubt that it’s an apt description.

The recipient of numerous awards for his sensor work, Sinha of Sensors and Electromechanical Devices (MPA-11) is the principal investigator in two crucial national energy security projects between Chevron Corporation and the Laboratory: noninvasive multiphase flow metering and acoustic reservoir imaging.

“Anyone in any field can come up to me with a technical problem, and if it is challenging enough and fun enough, I want to learn about that new field and solve that problem,” said Sinha. “And I believe every problem has a solution. It may be a difficult solution, but there is a solution.”

This attitude has drawn a diverse set of patrons—from medical doctors to geologists—to Sinha’s door, a situation he finds invigorating. “When they give me a problem to solve, they don’t realize they’ve done me a favor,” he explained.

Some of Sinha’s inventions for industry—Chevron in particular—include a solids flow sensor, which noninvasively detects sand in an oil bore; a device for ultrasonic imaging of particulate matter, which may revolutionize the detection of debris in oil pipelines; and an acoustic flashlight that uses sound waves like a light beam to create images underground (developed in collaboration with Cristian Pantea of MPA-11).

The atmosphere at Los Alamos, unlike that at a university or a company, allows exposure to so many diverse research areas, noted Sinha. “It’s one of the joys of working here,” he said.

Always contemplating more challenges, Sinha said his new fascination is how to mimic nature’s functionality with modern or newly invented materials. “Real-life problems are so incredibly challenging and fun,” he said. “They are very, very hard, but they still must be solved, because people need solutions. If life depends on it, we will come up with a solution.”

-Karen Kippen

Graduating Class of the 2nd LANL Fuel Cell Short Course
For three days in November, LANL's Fuel Cell Team hosted 9 scientists and engineers from industry, national labs, and universities in the second session of our Fuel Cell Short Course. The intensive workshop included classroom lectures, hands-on lab work, and group assignments.

For more MPA-11 News, see In the News Archives

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A Bit of History - LANL and PEM Fuel Cells

It began with a Buick
By Todd Hanson, LANL
October 6, 2005

The Laboratory’s role in the development of hydrogen as an energy source began with research on its use as a transportation fuel. Utilizing expertise gained from Project Rover, a Laboratory program aimed at developing a nuclear powered rocket, Laboratory scientists in the mid-1970s converted a Buick passenger car and a pickup truck to run on hydrogen by modifying the vehicles’ internal combustion engines and storing liquid hydrogen on-board in cryogenic dewars.

By 1977, Laboratory researchers had converted a golf cart to utilize a hydrogen-oxygen phosphoric acid fuel cell for electrical power. That same year, the newly established Department of Energy awarded the first Fuel Cells for Transportation program to the then-Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. This early work, coupled with a litany of successes along the way, has made Los Alamos fuel cell research one of the longest running non-defense programs at the Laboratory.

Based on this 28-year course of research, the Laboratory holds several seminal patents required by fuel cell product developers. One of the breakthrough technologies was the development in the late 1980s and early 1990s of the thin-film, low platinum electrode for the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. This innovation dramatically lowered the required amount of precious platinum metal catalyst by a factor of more than 20, while simultaneously improving performance. Fuel cell manufacturers worldwide currently use this PEM approach.

Another Los Alamos innovation was a dramatically improved tolerance to hydrogen impurities, which enabled low temperature PEM fuel cells to operate not only with pure hydrogen, but also with hydrogen-rich gas streams derived from hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline, methanol, propane and natural gas.

From the beginning, Los Alamos researchers have worked closely with industry. The formal establishment of the Los Alamos/General Motors Joint Development Center in 1991 was an effort funded by General Motors and the DOE that focused on development of the electrochemical engine — a PEM fuel cell-power system fueled by methanol converted on demand to a hydrogen-rich gas.

In 2003, the program direction shifted with the focus on PEM fuel cells running on pure hydrogen stored onboard the vehicle. This change in emphasis, embodied in President Bush’s Freedom Cooperative Automotive Research and Fuel Initiative, resulted from a desire to minimize the country’s dependence on imported oil while minimizing the environmental impacts of transportation. Storing enough hydrogen onboard a vehicle to enable a 350-mile driving range has since been declared a “grand challenge.” In April 2004, a Los Alamos-led collaboration focusing on chemical hydrogen storage was awarded one of three DOE Hydrogen Storage Centers of Excellence.

Although the bulk of the Laboratory’s funding for fuel cell research comes from transportation programs, fuel cells are inherently scalable, which means they can be used to power things on a range of scales from portable electronics to homes. A fuel cell sitting beside a home, using reformed natural gas or propane, would provide not only electricity, but also waste heat that could be captured and used for home heating and hot water production.

Today, the Laboratory’s fuel cell program is working in various areas that range from attempts to extend the operating lives of fuel cell membranes to the development of low cost catalysts. For a program that began with a Buick, the technology has come along way.

History of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research at Los Alamos

Click on the thumbnail image above for a timeline detailing the important events in hydrogen and fuel cell research at Los Alamos, including photos of some of the earliest hydrogen vehicles.

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Learning Center

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

Fuel cell animation

The History of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research at Los Alamos

Fuel Cells Green Power brochure (1.0MB pdf, Adobe Acrobat required)

Sensors & Micromanipulation Technology

"Sound Solutions for Safety, Health, and Security" describes the versatility of our sensors research.

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