Experiments reveal unexpected activity of fuel cell catalysts

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A scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) image taken of ceria nanoparticles on a gold surface. Size: 40 x 40 nanometers. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
A scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) image taken of ceria nanoparticles on a gold surface. Size: 40 x 40 nanometers. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have unveiled important details about a class of catalysts that could help improve the performance of fuel cells. With the goal of producing “clean” hydrogen for fuel cell reactions in mind, the researchers determined why two next-generation catalysts including gold, cerium, titanium, and oxygen nanomaterials exhibit very high activity. Their results will be published online in the December 14, 2007, edition of the journal Science.


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