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RESEARCHOctober 19, 2009Platinum steps lift methanol fuel cellsPut more steps on the surfaces of platinum nanoparticles and you can double the catalytic activity of fuel cells that run on methanol, potentially boosting the amount of electricity they produce.Platinum is commonly used in fuel cell electrodes to catalyze the chemical reactions that convert chemical energy from liquid fuels into electricity. But platinum makes fuel cells expensive. Researchers are working to get the most out of the precious metal. In general, smaller platinum nanoparticles are better because they have more surface area, and the surface is where the action is. It turns out that the shape of the nanoparticles matters, too. Adding atomic-scale steps has a big effect. In one experiment, increasing the number of steps on platinum nanoparticles doubled activity of the oxidation half of a fuel cell's oxidation-reduction cycle. Next up is studying whether the effect also works on the reduction half of the cycle. The researchers are also working to increase the catalytic activity by, potentially, several orders of magnitude. Research paper: Roles of Surface Steps on Pt Nanoparticles in Electro-oxidation of Carbon Monoxide and Methanol Journal of the American Chemical Society, published online October 13, 2009 Researchers' contact: Yang Shao-Horn Related stories and briefs: Process produces puny platinum particles -- related research Nano metals brighten prospects for ethanol fuel cells -- related research Back to ERN home |
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