Technology

NexTech’s reputation has been built by delivering materials solutions to its clients. These solutions begin with the intimate understanding of the importance of controlling the physical and chemical properties of ceramic materials. Small changes to chemical composition, surface area, particle size, and surface chemistry, among other factors, can significantly impact downstream processing and the performance of the fabricated component. NexTech has invested millions of dollars in establishing world-class processes and facilities for synthesizing ceramic powders by wet-chemical and conventional high temperature processes, and for regulating particle morphology during milling and drying. The breadth of powder characterization and materials testing tools available to NexTech augments this materials development work.

Component fabrication requires mastery of processing techniques and methods specific to each material, component geometry and application. For tubular components, such as those used in solid oxide fuel cells and electrochemical ceramic oxygen generators, NexTech has developed extrusion processes for fabricating ceramic tubes with controlled porosity and geometry. NexTech utilizes a patented ultrasonic-spray deposition method to apply electrolyte films and functional coating layers onto these tubular components. For planar components, NexTech has established tape casting, lamination, and screen printing processes to produce multi-layer cells with controlled density and microstructure within individual layers. These planar components can be fabricated in circular, square, or rectangular shapes, to accommodate any of the planar SOFC designs being pursued today. The availability of a diverse set of ceramic fabrication techniques, along with the experience in adapting these techniques for a range of component geometries, makes NexTech a complete solutions provider for complex component development needs.

NexTech scientists have generated improved catalysts for fuel processing. NexTech’s research into water-gas-shift catalysts is being extended to hydrocarbon reforming catalysts, with a primary focus on sulfur containing fuels. The core to NexTech’s catalyst work is the use of innovative synthesis methods to achieve highly dispersed metallic catalysts onto oxide supports, with the primary benefits of high catalytic activity and exceptional long-term stability. NexTech also has defined scalable processes for coating the materials onto ceramic and metallic monoliths, which provide a robust platform for incorporating these advanced catalysts into reactors. Our research is being extended into combining catalysts with membrane separation technology.

In parallel, NexTech has been developing inexpensive, ceramic-based sensors for monitoring gaseous impurities (such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide) in reformed hydrocarbons. These sensors will be critically important to any fuel cell systems that operate using existing fuels (e.g. natural gas, propane, gasoline, or diesel).