Platinum ‘nano-raspberries’ may hold the key to methanol fuel cells
Could our future cars be powered by methanol fuel cells, rather than gas, hydrogen or electric batteries? The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has made the oil alternative slightly more viable by developing a fast, simple way of producing platinum “nano-raspberries,” which contain tiny clusters of nanoparticles. Each tiny piece of matter, measuring between 1 and 100 nanometers, can act as a catalyst inside fuel cells to help convert liquid methanol into electricity. The clusters are called nano-raspberries because of their fruit-like shape, and they’re particularly effective due to their high surface area.
NIST’s process uses water as a solvent to make the nano-raspberries in roughly 40 minutes. The team tried a number of alternatives, including methanol, ethanol and isopropanol, to see how they affected the production of “nano-grapes,” which are formed from large clumps of nano-raspberries. These bunches, if they grow too large, can reduce their catalytic properties, and it’s this part of the research which NIST says is most important. In short, it’s not just the nanoparticle material that scientists should be worried about — it’s also the solvent they’re combined with. The hope is that their test methods will be used to discover better combinations of solvent and nanoparticle materials.
[Image Credit: Curtin/NIST]
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Source: NIST
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