Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Molecular fuel cell catalysts hold promise for efficient energy storage
http://news.wisc.edu/23894[font face=Serif][font size=5]Molecular fuel cell catalysts hold promise for efficient energy storage[/font]
July 15, 2015 | by Libby Dowdall
[font size=3]In the quest for better, less expensive ways to store and use energy, platinum and other precious metals play an important role. They serve as catalysts to propel the most efficient fuel cells, but they are costly and rare.
Now, a metal-free alternative catalyst for fuel cells may be at hand. In a study published July 15 in ACS Central Science, a team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison introduces a new approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Although molecular catalysts have been explored before, earlier examples were much less efficient than the traditional platinum catalyst.
…
Because the approach involves chemical reactions between gases, liquids and solids, moving from concept to demonstration was no small feat. Gerken spent months studying and optimizing each component of the setup they had envisioned before testing everything in a model system.
"This work shows for the first time that molecular catalysts can approach the efficiency of platinum," Gerken says. "And the advantage of molecules is that you can continue to modify their structure to climb further up the mountain to achieve even better efficiency."
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.5b00163July 15, 2015 | by Libby Dowdall
[font size=3]In the quest for better, less expensive ways to store and use energy, platinum and other precious metals play an important role. They serve as catalysts to propel the most efficient fuel cells, but they are costly and rare.
Now, a metal-free alternative catalyst for fuel cells may be at hand. In a study published July 15 in ACS Central Science, a team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison introduces a new approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Although molecular catalysts have been explored before, earlier examples were much less efficient than the traditional platinum catalyst.
…
Because the approach involves chemical reactions between gases, liquids and solids, moving from concept to demonstration was no small feat. Gerken spent months studying and optimizing each component of the setup they had envisioned before testing everything in a model system.
"This work shows for the first time that molecular catalysts can approach the efficiency of platinum," Gerken says. "And the advantage of molecules is that you can continue to modify their structure to climb further up the mountain to achieve even better efficiency."
…[/font][/font]