(Press-News.org) New Haven, Conn.—Fuel cells have been touted as a cleaner solution to tomorrow's energy needs, with potential applications in everything from cars to computers.
But one reason fuel cells aren't already more widespread is their lack of endurance. Over time, the catalysts used even in today's state-of-the-art fuels cells break down, inhibiting the chemical reaction that converts fuel into electricity. In addition, current technology relies on small particles coated with the catalyst; however, the particles' limited surface area means only a fraction of the catalyst is available at any given time.
Now a team of engineers at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science has created a new fuel cell catalyst system using nanowires made of a novel material that boosts long-term performance by 2.4 times compared to today's technology. Their findings appear on the cover of the April issue of ACS Nano.
Yale engineers Jan Schroers and André Taylor have developed miniscule nanowires made of an innovative metal alloy known as a bulk metallic glass (BMG) that have high surface areas, thereby exposing more of the catalyst. They also maintain their activity longer than traditional fuel cell catalyst systems.
Current fuel cell technology uses carbon black, an inexpensive and electrically conductive carbon material, as a support for platinum particles. The carbon transports electricity, while the platinum is the catalyst that drives the production of electricity. The more platinum particles the fuel is exposed to, the more electricity is produced. Yet carbon black is porous, so the platinum inside the inner pores may not be exposed. Carbon black also tends to corrode over time.
"In order to produce more efficient fuel cells, you want to increase the active surface area of the catalyst, and you want your catalyst to last," Taylor said.
At 13 nanometers in scale (about 1/10,000 the width of a human hair), the BMG nanowires that Schroers and Taylor developed are about three times smaller than carbon black particles. The nanowires' long, thin shape gives them much more active surface area per mass compared to carbon black. In addition, rather than sticking platinum particles onto a support material, the Yale team incorporated the platinum into the nanowire alloy itself, ensuring that it continues to react with the fuel over time.
It's the nanowires' unique chemical composition that makes it possible to shape them into such small rods using a hot-press method, said Schroers, who has developed other BMG alloys that can also be blow molded into complicated shapes. The BMG nanowires also conduct electricity better than carbon black and carbon nanotubes, and are less expensive to process.
So far Taylor has tested their catalyst system for alcohol-based fuel cells (including those that use ethanol and methanol as fuel sources), but they say the system could be used in other types of fuel cells and could one day be used in portable electronic devices such as laptop computers and cell phones as well as in remote sensors.
"This is the introduction of a new class of materials that can be used as electrocatalysts," Taylor said. "It's a real step toward making fuel cells commercially viable and, ultimately, supplementing or replacing batteries in electronic devices."
INFORMATION:
Other authors of the paper include Marcelo Carmo, Ryan C. Sekol, Shiyan Ding and Golden Kumar (all of Yale University).
DOI: 10.1021/nn200033c
Novel nanowires boost fuel cell efficiency
2011-04-02
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Rang Mahal won Thailand's Best Restaurants 2011
2011-04-02
Congratulations for the Eleventh consecutive year. Rang Mahal, the exquisite rooftop Indian restaurant at Rembrandt Hotel, was honored once again as one of Thailand's Best Restaurants 2011 by Thailand Tatler. The award-presentation took place at Central World and featured some of Bangkok's most famous restaurants, famous Thai and foreign celebrities and media personalities.
HSH Prince Bhisadej Rajani, a guest of honor, presided over the event and presented the prestigious awards. General Manager, Eric Hallin, Hotel Manager, Simon Rindlisbacher, and Quentin Fougeroux, ...
Crystal Pharmatech Launched China's First Training Course on Polymorphism
2011-04-02
Crystal Pharmatech Co.,Ltd researchers held an incredibly successful two-day training program on polymorphism and solid state characterization held at Suzhou Industrial Park, China March 24th and 25th. The training program was attended by over 130 researchers representing more than 70 China based pharmaceutical companies. Attendees included senior scientists and managers from global Pharm R&D centers in China including GSK, Novartis, Roche as well as other leading China-based companies including Huahai, Hengrui, and Donyangguang.
Polymorphism in drug ...
Immune therapy can control fertility in mammals
2011-04-02
NEW YORK (March 31, 2011) -- Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have shown that it is possible to immunize mammals to control fertility. They say their technique could possibly be used on other mammals -- including humans -- because fertility hormones and their receptors are species-non-specific and are similar in both females and males. For pets, the technique could be an alternative to castration and adverse effects of hormone administration.
In the Feb. 24 online issue of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Journal, the researchers say their newly synthesized ...
Assessing the value of treatments to increase height
2011-04-02
CLEVELAND -- Dr. Leona Cuttler, a pediatric endocrinologist and growth hormone expert from University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, is the co-author of an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine commenting on a new study that found giving girls with Turner syndrome low doses of estrogen, as well as growth hormone, years before the onset of puberty, increases their height and offers other benefits.
With her co-author Dr. Robert L. Rosenfield, a pediatric endocrinologist with the University of Chicago Medical Center, Dr. Cuttler writes, "The ...
Memphis Classifieds Directory Offers Marketing Alternatives to Local Businesses
2011-04-02
As the internet grows more and more businesses are looking for ways to increase their exposure on the web. There are so many choices from building a website to joining social media platforms. And many of these take a lot of time to learn or use.
There is one option however that makes it easy for Memphis businesses to get online and promote their business and services. This new option is offered by EverythingMemphis.com a new Memphis website offering from Glarrette Publishing.
"If you want to increase traffic to your website or business, we're offering an easy way ...
Age-related conditions develop faster in adults with diabetes
2011-04-02
Contact: Ian Demsky
idemsky@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Margarita Wagerson
mbauza@umich.edu
Age-related conditions develop faster in adults with diabetes
Patients in their 50s with diabetes have nearly double the risk for developing 'geriatric' ailments, study finds
Middle-aged adults with diabetes are much more likely to develop age-related conditions than their counterparts who don't have diabetes, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Health System and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
Adults between 51 and ...
NIH investigators find link between DNA damage and immune response
2011-04-02
Researchers offer the first evidence that DNA damage can lead to the regulation of inflammatory responses, the body's reaction to injury. The proteins involved in the regulation help protect the body from infection.
The study, performed by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is one of the first studies to come out of the recently established NIEHS Clinical Research Unit (CRU) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/clinical/join/durham/index.cfm).
Appearing in the March 31 issue ...
University presidents, senators discuss importance of scientific research to economy
2011-04-02
Washington, DC – University leaders and U.S. Senators gathered for a roundtable discussion today at the Capitol on the vital role university-based scientific research plays in fueling innovation and sparking economic growth.
The event was organized by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, chaired by Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), and included participation by Sens. Daniel Akaka (HI), Benjamin Cardin (MD), Kay Hagan (NC), Bernard Sanders (VT), and Debbie Stabenow (MI) and the following university leaders: Joseph Aoun, president of Northeastern University in ...
Life as Mystery in Guy Marino's Faces Series at Agora Gallery
2011-04-02
Chelsea's Agora Gallery will feature an originally Italian artist, Guy Marino, in Altered States of Reality: an Exhibition of Analog and Digital Fine Art Photography. The exhibition is scheduled to run from April 19, 2011 through May 10, 2011 (opening reception: Thursday, April 21, 2011).
About the Artist
Guy Marino creates art that centers around contradictions. Fusing elements of his oil painting with original photography and cutting edge digital enhancement techniques, Marino relies on duality to form a distinct platform for his art. His large-scale archival digital ...
Fossil is best look yet at an ancestor of buttercups
2011-04-02
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Scientists from the United States and China have discovered the first intact fossil of a mature eudicot, a type of flowering plant whose membership includes buttercups, apple trees, maple trees, dandelions and proteas. The 125 million-year-old find, described in this week's Nature, reveals a remarkably developed species, leading the scientists to argue for an earlier origin of the eudicots -- and perhaps flowering plants in general.
"This fossil opens up a new way of thinking about the evolution of some of the first flowering plants," said Indiana ...