Search Results for: platinum

The South African government has recently announced an investment of $49 million for research in hydrogen and in fuel cells. The government calls for 80-percent of the money to go towards expertise development and technology and the remaining 20-percent to be allocated for the private sector. The hydrogen research would be geared towards production using • Read More »

Two weeks ago I talked about platinum in catalytic convertors being recycled for fuel cells. What spurred the article was the recent rise in catalytic convertor thefts in order to resell this precious metal. Last week, I mentioned that MIT was developing a new fuel cell using cheaper metals to replace platinum. Today, it appears • Read More »

One of the arguments that critics of hydrogen cars launch is that the cost of platinum for fuel cells is too high. The critics not only state that the high cost of platinum means fuel cells are too expensive, but that going to a fuel cell based automotive economy would lead to a world wide • Read More »

PEM fuel cells take note that there is a new player in town and that is the platinum-free device developed by Daihatsu. Daihatsu Motors is the minicar division of Toyota and they have come up with a less costly fuel cell that runs on hydrazine hydrate (N2H4H2O). To the chemically-challenged this means that a combination • Read More »

Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered that using a platinum-nickel alloy catalyst in PEM fuel cells offers 90 times the activity of the platinum-carbon cathode catalysts used today. The discovery will likely lead to cheaper and more powerful hydrogen fuel cells • Read More »

The standard catalyst of choice for fuel cells right now is platinum, which is the main reason that hydrogen cars remain expensive to build. With the price of platinum today at over $1,200 per ounce and rising, (and the world supply of the metal in question) many fuel cell makers are looking to alternatives to • Read More »

Recent research suggests caffeine holds promise in improving fuel cell efficiency. Here’s a breakdown: Fuel cells: These are clean energy devices that convert chemical energy (often hydrogen) into electricity through an electrochemical reaction. Challenge: A crucial process within fuel cells, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), is inefficient. This inefficiency necessitates expensive platinum catalysts, driving up • Read More »

A new fuel cell design that shows great potential for increased durability has the capability to revolutionize heavy-duty trucks and other clean fuel cell applications. This groundbreaking electrode, a crucial component within a polymer electrolyte-membrane fuel cell, is constructed using corrosion-resistant nanowires. This advancement might mark the beginning of a fresh era for hydrogen-powered fuel • Read More »

This new low-cost catalyst could be the ideal solution to replace the much more expensive platinum options available today. The cost of using platinum as the catalyst has meant that the cost of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has been out of reach for the majority of those interested in buying in. The expensive costs • Read More »

Green technology shows many unique and intriguing innovations, but a new nitrogen doped carbon-coated nickel anode could play a major role in green innovations moving forward. This intriguing anode has been developed with the purpose of catalyzing an essential reaction in hydrogen fuel cells. Given the high cost of hydrogen fuel tech that puts many • Read More »