Cubic zirconia used to make fuel cells run cooler, fool neighbors

A trio of researchers at UC Davis has developed a method of using home-shopping standby cubic zirconia to cool hydrogen fuel cells by nearly 90 percent. Fuel cells typically run between 1,500 and 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, but by adding a little fake ice to the mix, Zuhair Munir, Umberto Anselmi-Tamburini and Sangtae Kim have managed to run their cell between just 122 and 212 degrees. The system works because conduction take places in zirconia via "protonic movement" as opposed to "ionic mobility," which sounds quite fancy. No word on when we'll see these hit the market, but the team has already gotten their patent application in order -- only time will tell if cubic zirconia will actually seem valuable in the future.

[Via Roland Piquepaille]

[TAz00 @ Jul 17th 2007 4:47AM]

So when do we see Cubic zirconia heatsinks?

[Apoorva @ Jul 17th 2007 5:19AM]

Correct me if i'm wrong,but aren't protons ions as well?

So that means that basically they made ions move...instead of ions.

Yippee for consumer ignorance!

[Ayle @ Jul 17th 2007 5:45AM]

Ions are atoms with a different number of proton and elctrons, protons are part of the atom/ion nucleus....

[Apoorva @ Jul 17th 2007 5:47AM]

You HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

a proton is a POSITIVELY CHARGED HYDROGEN NUCLEUS.Man,please don't tell me i'm wrong about this.I thought I passed my Chemistry classes for a reason!lol

[Apoorva @ Jul 17th 2007 5:49AM]

So hence,protons = ions.

Look up any place on the internet,they'll all tell you that an H+ ion is a proton

................

[Dennis @ Jul 17th 2007 6:14AM]

ermm... it doesn't work like that....

by your reasoning, you could also say:
a banana is a yellow fruit
so hence fruits = bananas

get what i mean?

a proton is arguably a specific one of many ions. that doesn't however make all ions protons.

[PJK @ Jul 17th 2007 5:24AM]

Ions are atoms , protons are subatomic particles.

[Apoorva @ Jul 17th 2007 5:50AM]

Yea,thats true.But what i've written above is true as well...right?

[fsamara @ Jul 17th 2007 6:13AM]

H+ has one proton, "so an ion is a proton" only applies for H+

[Joe @ Jul 17th 2007 9:22AM]

The best way to state it is that a proton (H+) is an ion. Ions are any charged particle, by that definition electrons are ions. He+ which consists of 2 protons, 1 electron, and 1 neutron is also an ion.
The reasoning behind why this should work is because of how conduction take places (read as takes place) in cubic zirconia. Normal conduction in say a copper wire works through an electron transfer. A single electron is introduced at one end of the wire, which results in a Cu- ion at that end of the wire. Then, an electron is passed from the Cu- ion to its neighboring Cu atom. This process repeats until an electron exits the other end of the wire. This article suggests that cubic zirconia does not work this way. Now, I have never heard of protonic movement before today, but it sounds to me like the same process as above only an H+ ion is passed from atom to atom. Although, that is what it sounds like, I wouldn't expect a positively charged ion to behave in that fashion. Normally, a positively charged ion would attempt to steal an electron from another atom rather than give up a proton. Stealing an electron is much easier since they are moving around outside the nucleus which makes them more accessable.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 17th 2007 7:07AM]

Those "free energy" bozos should have used this.

It would still be bullshit but man it'd SHINE!

[NHAnimator @ Jul 17th 2007 8:01AM]

Crappy news. Now the price of that rock I was gonna get my wife is gonna skyrocket. Guess I'll have to get her the real thing now.

[Don-Don @ Jul 17th 2007 9:00AM]

Isn't anyone else having nightmarish flashbacks of the Governator as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin?

[almostinfamous @ Jul 17th 2007 9:01AM]

i guess springfield's gonna hit the big time with this, having the largest cubic zirconia IN THE WORLD!

[Shazaam @ Jul 17th 2007 9:20AM]

All the tech blogs reporting on this would do well to remember that only certain types of fuel cells run at such high temperatures. Most of the fuel cells currently being developed for market, such as PEMFCs or DMFCs, run at reasonable operating temperatures and pressures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell#Types_of_fuel_cells

[Froggy @ Jul 17th 2007 9:38AM]

think of the bling-bling

[Eric @ Jul 17th 2007 11:42AM]

Guys, a cubic zirconia is a diamond simulant! It's little more than paste. I can buy a cubic zirconia that rival's the Cullinan II on Queen Elizabeth's scepter for about $30.

The Cullinan II however was described thus: 'Take four strong men, each with small rocks. Have them each throw their rocks in each of the four directions as far as they can throw them. Then have a fifth man throw a small rock directly up as high as high as he can. Fill that area with precious gems and you have an idea of the value of the Cullinan II."

So, no matter how many fuel cells they use CZs in, their value is never going to be greater than, say, a 128 meg flash drive, if you want to talk "flashy."

[MacGyverDXS @ Jul 17th 2007 7:25PM]

You are being a little disingenuous with your statement that CZ's are "little more than paste". In fact the CZ is a man made gemstone that is only slightly less hard than diamond.

[Eric @ Jul 18th 2007 10:19AM]

MacByverDXS,

You misunderstood me. By paste, I meant a term in the gem trade for costume jewelry. Most "paste" is actually cut glass. And by "like paste," I meant of little value. Sorry to be unclear.

As for the hardness of CZ, it's 8.5 on the MOHS scale, which means about 300 times harder than talc (which is 1 on the scale). Diamonds are 10 on the Mohs scale, which in fact is 1500 times harder than talc, and the hardest natural substance.

Now, aggregated diamond nanorods are higher than 10 on the scale, but such allotropes of carbon are not suitable for gems. :-D

[Matt B @ Jul 17th 2007 11:37AM]

Check out the bling in my trunk.

[Slvrgun @ Jul 17th 2007 12:13PM]

Does your mom?

[Bill @ Jul 17th 2007 12:42PM]

Wow, how timely. I had a HUGE "protonic movement" this morning. I mean, no diamonds came out, fake or otherwise, but... wow. I've also heard that people in LA are big fans of hi-protonics. Not my thing, but to each their own.

Wait, what?

[mrdelayer @ Jul 17th 2007 1:19PM]

It's actually a 70% temperature decrease.

Absolute temperatures are your friends.

[Joe @ Jul 17th 2007 3:22PM]

Wow, your right 70.3%, I can't believe I missed that. I guess I was too hung up on "because conduction take places"

[Dan @ Jul 17th 2007 2:18PM]

If you change the proton count in an atom, you change it's element. Are they claiming they're causing a nuclear reaction?
So basically, they're causing nuclear fission to cool. Great, that's nothing new.

[J @ Jul 17th 2007 3:38PM]

diamond has one of the highest (isn't it THE highest?) thermal conductivities. is that in any way related?

[MacGyverDXS @ Jul 17th 2007 7:22PM]

yes diamond is one of the best thermal conductors, however CZ is a thermal insulator.

[JLTate @ Jul 17th 2007 8:47PM]

Man! I was gonna ask that.

[Ogami_ito @ Jul 17th 2007 10:45PM]

Guys, sorry but...I smell a rat here. I don't think this is real. At least, I do not believe in "protonic conductivity" as it is being hypothesized here.