ST. LOUIS, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aldrich Materials
Science, a strategic technology initiative of Sigma-Aldrich
Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL) today announced it has signed an
agreement to collaborate on the scale-up and commercialization of
next generation hydrogen-storage materials with Ilika plc
(AIM:IKA), an advanced cleantech materials discovery company. Both
companies believe this enterprise will become a vital component of
the energy industry's efforts to develop consumer-friendly hydrogen
storage materials for fuel cell and clean combustion
technology.
Hydrogen represents an attractive carrier of energy as its
combustion or direct conversion to electricity via a fuel cell does
not lead to the emission of carbon dioxide. In addition, hydrogen
can be used as an alternative energy carrier to battery technology
since the energy density of hydrogen can be substantially higher
than that of batteries. The main criteria for hydrogen storage for
transport purposes, as outlined by the US Freedom Car Initiative
(http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/freedomcar_plan.pdf), are to
supply enough hydrogen to enable a driving range of approximately
500 km, to charge and recharge at near room temperature and to
provide hydrogen at rates fast enough for vehicular operation -
from cars to trains. Current prototype applications use very high
pressure compressed hydrogen or cryogenically cooled liquid
hydrogen. These methods consume a significant percentage of the
energy content in their compression and conversion and both raise
safety concerns. Ilika's storage solution is a solid metal hydride,
which exists as a powder stored in a cylinder at moderate pressure
and stable at room temperature. When warmed to moderate
temperatures, hydrogen is released for use as fuel.
To be economically viable, the target weight percentage of
hydrogen stored in such a material has been set at 6% by the US
Department of Energy. Current commercially available hydride
materials can achieve up to 2.3 weight % of hydrogen. The hydride
materials being verified and scaled-up by Aldrich Materials Science
can potentially store up to 10 weight % of hydrogen,
reversibly.
Commenting on the collaboration, Ilika's CEO, Graeme Purdy, said: "This agreement is a great
example of how Ilika, together with our partners, develops
innovative materials that solve complex industrial challenges and
shares in the commercial upside that these technological advances
make possible. Sigma-Aldrich® is a world leader with renowned
capability in the field of materials science. Through its Aldrich
Materials Science initiative, Sigma-Aldrich possesses
state-of-the-art integrated capabilities in hydrogen storage
materials for fuel cell technology, including material development
(mechanochemistry), manufacturing, application and evaluation, and
have agreed to enter into a collaboration to scale-up Ilika's
metal-hydride materials. In particular, their mechanochemistry
know-how and processing is a proven tool for the preparation of
novel materials. We are very pleased to be working with
them."
R&D Manager for Aldrich Materials Science, Viktor Balema, added: "We have been very
impressed by Ilika's unique high-throughput discovery capabilities,
which are very complementary to our scale-up facilities. The
collaboration, done as part of our custom research services,
creates the unique opportunity to rapidly move from discovery to
first commercialization, with the potential of making innovative
energy storage materials available to end users in a short period
of time. Through collaborative custom research projects, we aim to
enable materials innovation in the alternative energy, electronics
and biomedical markets."
For further information on Ilika, visit: http://ilika.com/
For further information on Aldrich Materials Science, visit:
www.Sigma-Aldrich.com/matsci
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information in this press release as of this date and does not
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contained in this press release as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich Corporation