Study increases the hope of cheaper fuel cellsviernes, 12 enero 2018 Study increases the hope of cheaper fuel cellsResearchers show how to optimize nanomaterials for fuel cell cathodes.Simulations by scientists at Rice University show how carbon nanomaterials can be optimized to replace expensive platinum in cathodes with fuel cells that generate electricity for transportation and other applications.Carbon nanotubes doped with nitrogen or modified graphene nanofibers can be adequate replacements of platinum for rapid oxygen reduction, the key reaction in fuel cells that transform chemical energy into electricity, according to Rice University researchers.The findings come from computer simulations by Rice scientists who set out to see how carbon nanomaterials can be improved for fuel cell cathodes. His study reveals the atom-level mechanisms by which doped nanomaterials catalyze oxygen reduction reactions (ORR).
