Dr. Paul Brooker
Dr. Brooker received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University Provo, Utah in 2004. In 2009, he completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, under the direction of Dr. Richard Parnas. His graduate studies focused on the effects of the addition of heteropolyacids to the electrodes of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), with particular interest at elevated temperature and low relative humidity applications. After graduation, he accepted a post-doctoral position at the Florida Solar Energy Center, where he investigated the interaction of the catalyst layer with different membranes as well as the role electrode structure plays in fuel cell performance, all as part of the DOE High Temperature Membrane Working Group. He is currently an Assistant Research Professor at the Florida Solar Energy Center.
In addition to fuel cell membrane and electrode characterization, Dr. Brooker has extensive experience in identifying fuel cell failure mechanisms, through both in-situ and ex-situ characterization methods. He has also investigated electrochemical supercapacitors, and increased current density in all-vanadium flow batteries. Outside of electrochemically-related research, Dr. Brooker is contributing to work within the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium, a DOE-initiated consortium dedicated to improving the US solar panel industry.