Chemistry Prof. Commercializes Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology

PowerTrekk unit (myFC)

A chemistry professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing developed a process for making inexpensive hydrogen fuel cells to generate cheap electrical power, and helped start a business to bring that technology to market. A company making portable device chargers has now licensed the technology and unveiled its product this week.

James Dye has turned his research on alkali metals into a process to produce sodium silicide, made from sodium and silicon. Dye found that adding water to these two cheap, abundant materials could produce hydrogen, the energy in fuel cells. The sodium silicate byproduct of the process, Dye says, is also benign; “It’s the same stuff found in toothpaste.”

In 2005, Michael Lefenfeld, a 25 year-old entrepreneur, co-founded SiGNa Chemistry with Dye, to commercialize this research. “My research was closely related to what SiGNa was looking for, says Dye, “so when they came to me with their idea, it was a relatively easy adaptation to make.” Dye serves with SiGNa on the company’s scientific council.

This week, SiGNa Chemistry unveiled its hydrogen cartridges, which provide energy to fuel cells designed to recharge cell phones, laptops, and GPS units. This green power source is geared toward outdoor enthusiasts as well as residents of the Third World, where electricity in homes is considered a luxury.

Also this week, the Swedish portable fuel cell company myFC demonstrated its PowerTrekk portable recharger at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona using the hydrogen cartridges developed by SiGNa Chemistry. The PowerTrekk (pictured above)  is is both a portable battery pack and fuel cell. The company says its fuel cell can charge a depleted battery by inserting a fuel pack and adding water.

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