Given the last known travel plans of the Neah CEO and CEO of marketing this is fairly interesting.....given the batteries still use a BASF electrolyte ... witting or unwitting ...LOL...
Looks like a possible investor is doing his own research and DD.... given the location of the Center....
Formic Acid as a Hydrogen Energy Carrier Jo¨ rg Eppinger* and Kuo-Wei Huang* KAUST Catalysis Center and Division of Physical Sciences & Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00574 ACS Energy Lett. 2017, 2, 188-195
¦ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful for financial support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
General Assessment on FA. The high gravimetric capacity of FA has been appreciated, and its potential application as a secondary fuel has been proposed and explored in direct FA fuel cells (DFAFCs).39 While early models suffered from low performance of the platinum catalyst, better performance could be achieved using palladium.40 The commercial feasibility of DFAFC technology was examined with investment from the industrial sector (Tekion and Motorola, partnering with BASF) to design and manufacture power packs.41 Presumably because the catalyst poisoning issue in long-term application could not be overcome, there were no further updates about these developments, and Tekion’s assets were acquired by Neah Power in 2013.42 While DFAFCs face major challenges, hydrogen fuel cells are a mature technology, which is commercialized in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) with over 140 kW and a range exceeding 600 km (e.g., Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Tucson, Honda Clarity, etc.). Hence, the selective production of H2 from FA to power hydrogen fuel cells is a promising approach with a short path to market. Like in a conventional fuel, energy discharge implies consumption of FA, which results in a significant release of mass in the form of CO2. In combination with a lightweight electrical motor and fuel cell, a FA-based power train can achieve better energy-to-mass ratios than current fossil-fueldriven combustion engines (Figure 1b). Moreover, the cost associated with building and maintaining the distribution infrastructure represents the major hurdle for large-scale consumer applications of gaseous H2. Because FA is a nontoxic and environmentally benign liquid with low flammability under ambient conditions, the existing gasoline infrastructure may be easily adapted for FA distribution
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