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| Mon, 24th Aug 2020 14:46:00 |
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Fuel cells for hydrogen vehicles are becoming longer lasting |
Hydrogen vehicles are a rare sight. This is partly because they rely on a large amount of platinum to serve as a catalyst in their fuel cells—about 50 grams. Typically, vehicles only need about five grams of this rare and precious material. Indeed, only 100 tons of platinum are mined annually, in South Africa.
Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry have developed a catalyst that doesn't require such a large quantity of platinum.
"We have developed a catalyst which, in the laboratory, only needs a fraction of the amount of platinum that current hydrogen fuel cells for cars do. We are approaching the same amount of platinum as needed for a conventional vehicle. At the same time, the new catalyst is much more stable than the catalysts deployed in today's hydrogen powered vehicles," explains Professor Matthias Arenz from the Department of Chemistry.
Sustainable technologies are often challenged by the limited availability of the rare materials that make them possible, which in turn, limits scalability. Due to this current limitation, it is impossible to simply replace the world's vehicles with hydrogen models overnight. As such, the new technology a game-changer.
The new catalyst improves fuel cells significantly, by making it possible to produce more horsepower per gram of platinum. This in turn, makes the production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles more sustainable.
Read original full article
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