Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have received three patents for developing catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions in fuel cells. The newly patented catalysts, as well as a method for making a particular type of catalyst with a thin layer of platinum, could greatly reduce the cost and increase the use of fuel cells in electric vehicles. The catalysts and the technique are available for licensing.
(From left) Brookhaven Lab chemists Kotaro Sasaki, Miomir Branko Vukmirovic, and Radoslav Adzic work on developing catalysts for fuel cells
Image credit: BNL
Platinum is the most efficient catalyst for fuel cells. However, the platinum-based catalysts are expensive, unstable, and have low durability. The newly patented catalysts have high activity and stability, while containing much less platinum than the amount used in current fuel cells, so their cost is reduced.
Several types of renewable fuel – such as hydrogen, ethanol or methanol – may be used in fuel cells. A hydrogen fuel cell, for example, converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and, in the process, produces electricity. Hydrogen is oxidized by separating into negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions with the help of a catalyst at the fuel cell’s negative pole, the anode. Electrons then travel to the positive pole, the cathode, creating electricity with their movement. At the cathode, with the aid of a catalyst, oxygen gains electrons, resulting in oxygen reduction, and combines with hydrogen ions forming water, the only byproduct of a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell.
The scientists also received a patent for adding gold clusters to platinum-based catalysts. In the reactions during the stop-and-go driving of an electric car, platinum dissolves, which reduces its efficiency as a catalyst. But the researchers have overcome this problem by adding a very small amount of gold to the platinum-based catalyst. With the addition of gold, the platinum was kept intact during an accelerated stability test, which mimicked the stop-and-go conditions of an electric car. The gold clusters protected the platinum from being oxidized, which stabilized the platinum, making possible improved platinum-based catalysts.
good research is going by the us but need to improve its all the points to be secure.
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