Research Interests:

Research interests are in the broad area of transport phenomena with an emphasis on multiphase flows. Specific research topics include polymer rheology and processing, graded-index polymer optical fibers (GI-POF), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) and micro-reformer for portable PEMFC applications. Micro-reformer for PEMFC: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) offer very high power density compared to other types of fuel cells. In addition, the intrinsic properties of the materials used for PEMFCs make them to operate at a low temperature thereby allowing quick start-up and rapid load-response. Due to these advantages, PEMFCs are favored as a portable power source for applications such as aviation, automobile as well as consumer electronics (laptops, cell phones, camcorders, etc.). Although pure hydrogen is the best fuel for PEMFC, difficulties associated with hydrogen storage and the portability of the storage system make hydrocarbons to be more practical choices as a fuel for small-size mobile applications. Current research interest is to develop a new design for a micro-reformer that produces hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels. Design criteria include high efficiency in terms of conversion and thermal management, compactness, manufacturability, and easy integration with the fuel cell for portability.