Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, Henry Sam's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, led a research team that developed nanostructures made from three metal compounds that increased fuel cell efficiency while reducing production costs. Durability. Their solution solves the thorny problem that this technology has been stagnating.
Yu Huang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, published the research in the June 12 issue of Science.
As a clean energy technology, proton exchange membrane fuel cells have a wide range of applications including use in zero-emission vehicles. Fuel cells work by initiating a chemical reaction between hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air to produce electricity, and they produce by-products that are water rather than pollutants emitted by conventional vehicles and greenhouse gases.
The chemical reactions that occur in proton exchange membrane fuel cells are catalyzed by metals. One of these chemical reactions is a redox reaction, which usually uses platinum as a catalyst. However, the high cost of platinum has been a major factor hindering the widespread adoption of fuel cells. Scientists have studied alternative catalysts including platinum-nickel compounds, but so far, no viable solution has been obtained.
The researchers used a surface engineering technique called "surface doping" to invent a more efficient, longer lasting, and lower cost fuel cell. They added a surface called platinum to the surface of the platinum-nickel nanostructure in the cell. The third metal. This change makes the alloy surface more stable and prevents loss of nickel and platinum during prolonged use.
The study found that the nanostructure of the platinum-nickel-molybdenum surface is 81 times more efficient than the platinum-carbon composite catalyst currently on the market. Moreover, after using the three metal compounds for a period of time, the catalytic efficiency is still maintained at 95%, which is significantly better than the catalytic efficiency of the platinum-nickel catalyst of 66% or less.
“We found that the addition of a third transition metal significantly improved efficiency and durability and reduced costs,†said Huang, a member of the California Institute of Nanotechnology. “In addition, it shows that doping technology can also be applied to a range of catalysts, while opening up a new path for catalyst engineering for environmental protection, energy production and chemical products looking for efficient catalysts.â€
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