Two Minutes with ...

Steve Martin

 

“We are using the periodic table of elements as our playground to create a ‘glass window’ to work with.”

Ask Steve Martin what he believes the car of the future is going to be and he will describe a hybrid that runs on fuel cells assisted by batteries. He believes this because as a professor of materials science and engineering his research, in addition to the research of others, clearly shows that fuel cells are much more efficient in converting precious energy sources to power. They can be made even more effective if assisted by a battery system.

Energy crisis
At the peak of the 1970s energy crisis, Martin was just starting to drive. He became interested in creating energy saving alternatives. He wanted to learn about the chemistry used to produce different types of power systems that might ultimately establish an alternative energy system for cars.

The role of glass
Martin is working to develop a type of sulfide glass to use in lithium batteries. This glass would replace the plastic component found in most lithium batteries today—a component that often fails. These types of glasses may improve the energy density, recycle life, and safety of lithium batteries so they can be more widely used in battery-assisted fuel cell-powered cars.

Power platform
Moving to a new, affordable, environmentally friendly, and renewable energy technology this century, Martin believes, will require critical new research to create this next energy platform. Choosing where we want our electricity to come from, for example, as opposed to continuing to unbalance the carbon cycle is chief among research priorities. Using biorenewable fuels in hybrid fuel cell-powered vehicles is one step toward a more resourceful technology that optimizes energy efficiency.

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