
Study boosts hope for cheaper fuel cells Researchers show how to optimize nanomaterials for fuel-cell cathodes Date: January 5, 2018 Source: Rice University Summary: Simulations by scientists show how carbon nanomaterials may be optimized to replace expensive platinum in cathodes for electricity-generating fuel cells. https://materialscience-nano.conferenceseries.com/events-list/nano-materials The findings are from computer simulations by Rice scientists who set out to see how carbon nanomaterials can be improved for fuel-cell cathodes. Their study reveals the atom-level mechanisms by which doped nanomaterials catalyze oxygen reduction reactions (ORR). The research appears in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Nanoscale . Theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and his Rice colleagues are among many looking for a way to speed up ORR for fuel cells, which were discovered in the 19th century but not widely used until the latter part of the 20th. They ...