Direct Fuel Cell Application to Lunar NITE

Swift is using its technology on a NASA Moon to Mars contract through Astrobotic Technology under NASA Contract 80AFRC21C0009. We were chartered by (then) Masten Space Systems to develop a hydrogen / hydrogen peroxide fuel cell to survive the lunar night which is 14 Earth days long at -250°C for multiple lunar days.

For further information concerning this and other space efforts, refer to the NASA contract #80AFRC21C0009. Please visit https://www.astrobotic.com/ for more information.

Swift Direct Fuel Cell Development

Swift Enterprises has invented a number of electrocatalytic systems to effectively extract electrical energy from hydrogen peroxideUSP 7,344,799. When reacted with a high energy protonic fuel such as aqueous sodium borohydride, significant power and energy can be derived, as shown below.

Work has been proceeding rapidly on the demonstration of the Swift Direct Fuel Cell. The fuel cell uses all liquid-phase reactants which are both safe and recyclable. No oxygen is needed for operation, making it also suitable for underwater and space applications. There has been a significant increase in performance based on the development of more selective electrocatalysts, higher conductivity ion transfer membranes, and the inclusion of novel binders, shown below.

Great progress in manufacturing, polymer synthesis and electrochemistry is being made on this program.

The table below compares the attributes of conventional hydrogen fuel cells with the Swift proton concepts.