UC Berkeley ME Department Colloquium Announced
ENERGY CONVERSION AT THE NANOSCALE
Prof. Fritz B. PRINZ
Departments of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Engineering
Stanford University
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
4:00 - 5:00 PM
3110 Etcheverry Hall
(Cookies and refreshments provided at 3:30 pm)
ABSTRACT:
Selective mass and charge transfer drive energy conversion in any living system. Not unlike nature, man-made energy conversion systems such as fuel cells depend on membranes with selective ionic conduction.
Our experiments have shown that we can fabricate freestanding oxide membranes with a thickness of tens of nanometers. In particular, we used Yttria stabilized Zirconia and Gadolinia doped Ceria as electrolyte membranes for the creation of a new class Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) which are capable of operating several hundred degrees centigrade below the temperature of traditional SOFCs. First principles calculations help in understanding ion conductivity as a function of dopant concentration.
Our ability to effectively draw power from ultra thin membrane structures inspired us to explore interrupting the natural electron transport chain in thylakoid membranes, the key ingredient of every chloroplast organelle in light sensitive plant cells. Exposing thylakoid membrane stacks to nano-scale electrodes and stimulating them with light pulses resulted in measurable polarization currents.
ABOUT Prof. Prinz
Fritz B. Prinz is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Materials Science and Engineering, the Rodney H. Adams Professor in the School of Engineering, and Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Vienna, Austria. His current research interests are in designing and prototyping micro and nanoscale devices for energy and biology. Examples include fuel cells and bioreactors. His group studies transport phenomena across thin oxide layers and lipid bi-layers with the help of Atomic Force Microscopy combined with Impedance Spectroscopy. With his students, he is synthesizing quantum dots to influence the band gap structure for improved exciton generation efficiency.
Hosted by Prof. Xiang Zhang, 5130 Etcheverry Hall, 643-4978, xzhang@me.berkeley.edu
Link to Stanford Mechanical Engineering Department
Link to Dr. Prinz's Homepage
View the SINAM Seminars Page
Seminar presented by the Center for Scalable and Integrated Nanomanufacturing
Date posted: March 15, 2007
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