Core and Shell Nanoparticle Using Less Platinum Could Make Fuel-Cells Better
23 August 2010 | Green Technology | No Comments
A new developed core-and-shell nanoparticle containing less platinum than today commercially available catalysts, may improve the efficiency of fuel cells by up to 12 percent.
Researchers at Brown University explained that at the cathode end of fuel-cells takes place a redox reaction that often causes an energy loss of up to 40%. “…this is a crucial step in making fuel cells a more competitive technology with internal combustion engines and batteries”, says Shouheng Sun, coauthor of the study at Brown University.
Researchers created a a five-nanometer-wide palladium core and then they molded a one-nanometer shell around it. The shell created contains a very small amount of iron platinum that makes the chemical reaction very efficient. At this stage, the amount of platinum was reduced by 30% but researchers want to create smaller shells to use even less platinum.
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After many laboratory tests researchers proved that at the same catalyst weight, the palladium/iron-platinum nanoparticles can generate 12 times more energy than a pure-platinum catalysts. According to Vismadeb Mazumder, a Brown graduate student, the new catalyst is equally effective even after 10,000 cycles, which means that it lasts 10 times more than today commercially available platinum models (1000 cycles).
“This is a very good demonstration that catalysts with a core and a shell can be made readily in half-gram quantities in the lab. They’re active, and they last…The next step is to scale them up for commercial use, and we are confident we’ll be able to do that.”, said Vismadeb Mazumder.
Source: Ceramics
Tags: core and shell nanoparticle, efficient fuel cell, fuel cell, platinum catalysts, platinum fuel cell