Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Exploring A Platinum Nanocatalytic Microcombustion-Thermoelectric Coupled Device, Dylan Moore Mcnally

Theses and Dissertations

This work aimed to create a first-generation power device for eventual application to portable electronics. A platinum nanoparticle catalytic substrate was employed in a microcombustion-thermoelectric coupled (MTC) device for the purpose of chemical-to-electrical energy conversion. Multiple microcombustion reactors were designed, fabricated, and investigated. Most importantly, the reactor configuration was designed to accommodate thermoelectric generators (TEGs) for power production. Temperature studies with catalytic combustion of methanol-air fuel mixtures were used to evaluate the thermal power generation performance of each reactor. The final reactor design enabled ignition at room temperature with the ability to achieve repeat catalytic cycles upon subsequent exposure to …

A Study Of Catalytic Microcombustion For A Portable Power Supply Device, Bhanuprakash Reddy Guggilla

Theses and Dissertations

The essential need for portable and dense power sources has been greatly increased with the prevalence of portable electronic devices in the past decade. Catalytic combustion of hydrocarbon and oxygenated fuels has the potential to provide an alternative power source for portable electronic devices by replacing relatively today's heavy battery technology. A successful self-ignition and sustainable catalyst combustion for a variety of fuels using Platinum (Pt)-impregnated substrate was demonstrated in our previous work.

Present work explores the performance of a microcombustion thermoelectric coupled (MTC) device with improved reactor configuration design. Chemically synthesized platinum nanoparticles with particle diameters of approx. 8 …