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Thursday, 29th March 2007 (4991 views)

Gold may soon be a critical part in the production of efficient and cheap fuel cells, according to research being carried currently out in the US.

Scientists at the Bookhaven National Laboratory, which works for the US Department of Energy, have found that gold can substitute platinum within the fuel cells and thus provide increased longevity of fuel cells while simultaneously reducing unwanted by-products.

Jose Rodriguez, a chemist working on the research, said: "We wanted a material that was less expensive.

"We're trying to find a catalyst that achieves two things: produces hydrogen while removing a large amount of carbon dioxide."

Gold nanoparticles also show the greatest catalytic activity and its potency comes from it exhibiting chemical reactivity.

Mr Rodriguez explained: "Metal nanoparticles alone are not able to do the catalysis. But when you put them on the ceria, you see tremendous catalytic activity."

Some 45 per cent of the platinum within a fuel cell can dissolve during just five days of chemical reactions, according to some studies.

 

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