# Electrochemical Oxygen Concentrator

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2021 · $928,022

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Oxygen supply is essential for hospitalized patients. The limitation of resources, transport, and supply chain
disruptions in the COVID-19 pandemic created some unique challenges. The simple process of providing O2
supplementation has become very challenging in a rural small hospital, a large hospital with makeshift hospital
rooms, during emergency transport to the hospital, during in-hospital transport of infected patients, in developing
nations with low-resource hospitals or at home for discharged patients. We propose to develop a novel oxygen
concentrator that generates oxygen through electrochemical principles. The electrochemical oxygen concentrator
can be especially valuable during the pandemic crisis owing to its unique merits over existing devices such as
significantly higher oxygen purity (>99%) at reasonable flow rates (1 LPM – 5 LPM), lesser power consumption,
less weight, less noise, and ease of manufacturing. This is a collaborative effort by an interdisciplinary team with
expertise in electrochemistry, medical device design, and critical care medicine. In this two-year project, specific
aim 1 involves the development of the electrochemical oxygen concentrator for in-hospital use, which includes
the electrochemical core, the flow control system, and the external tower with a user interface. In specific aim 2,
we will conduct rigorous tests to document various performance categories of the functional prototype – oxygen
concentration, flow, operation time, power consumption, and user interface – as laid out by WHO specifications.
And finally, we will conduct a technoeconomic analysis to facilitate commercialization and a quick translation to
practice of the novel electrochemical oxygen concentrator.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10184526
- **Project number:** 1R01EB031385-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** Syed Mubeen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $928,022
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10184526

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10184526, Electrochemical Oxygen Concentrator (1R01EB031385-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10184526. Licensed CC0.

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