Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Image Source: SRNL
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells use nano-scale platinum catalyst to increase efficiency and lower costs. However the problem of catalyst degradation in fuel cells remains a hurdle that researchers hope to leap.
A Savannah River National Laboratory research project to study the use of highly dispersed platinum as a fuel cell electrode catalyst is one of 20 project proposals selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for funding under its Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency 2008 Research Call. The funded projects promise to make revolutionary improvements in a broad range of energy production, storage, and consumption applications that will reduce energy and carbon intensity in industrial processes.
The SRNL project will examine catalyst structure at the sub-nanometer and even the single-atom level to determine whether dispersing the platinum will allow a significant reduction in the amount of the expensive precious metal used in a fuel cell.
Nanotechnology, the understanding and control of matter at the atomic or molecular level, has the potential for major improvements in energy applications. Over the past seven years, the U.S. government has invested $8.3 billion in nanotechnology and made great strides in gaining fundamental knowledge at the nanometer scale.
An important next step in realizing the promise of nanotechnology is to improve production and manufacturing techniques for nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, many of which are “stuck at the lab scale.” The selected projects will advance the state of nanomanufacturing by improving the reliability of nanomaterials production and scaling-up manufacturing processes that use nanomaterials.
SRNL was awarded $250,000 for its 12-month project to evaluate the use of highly dispersed platinum on electrical conductive porous supports as a fuel cell electrode catalyst. Fuel cells use platinum as a catalyst to facilitate the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Mathematical modeling indicates that the amount of precious metal could potentially be reduced by a factor of 100, if the platinum catalyst were dispersed so that every platinum atom is active for catalytic reaction, rather than being stacked against each other. SRNL’s Steve Xiao, who is leading the project, will bring industrial catalyst experience to the fuel cell research project, which will examine catalyst structure in sub-nanometer and ultimately single atom or mono layer.
DOE national laboratories responded to the research call intending that innovative technologies developed will be further developed and deployed commercially by industry. The research call was geared toward “quick-win” nanomanufacturing projects with a realistic path to commercialization in 3–5 years.
