Decades in the Making – New Catalyst Could Make Hydrogen Fuel Cells Affordable
The exorbitant price of platinum has prevented the commercialization of eco-friendly gasoline for years, but a study suggests that a low-cost catalyst could be a workable replacement. Researchers have been searching for a catalyst that may drastically reduce the cost of manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells for many years. Such a discovery might usher in a green energy revolution, with computers and trains using fuel that simply yields water as a byproduct. Recent University at Buffalo studies suggest that the researchers may be coming closer to attaining this goal (UB). Efficiency, durability, and affordability have been designated as the three key objectives for fuel cell research by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Scientists describe how iron may be mixed with nitrogen and carbon to create a catalyst that satisfies all three requirements in a research that was just published in Nature Energy. Gang Wu, Ph.D., professor of chemical and biological engineering at the UB School...