Imperial College London scientists are working on removing the platinum from fuel cellsPlatinum. It’s rare, expensive and vital to fuel cells. Or at least it was, if a few rather clever sorts from Imperial College London are to be believed.
Apparently, they’ve figured out a way to use iron as the catalyst in hydrogen powered cars instead of platinum, reducing the cost of fuel cells dramatically and ensuring that fuel cell manufacturers won’t be chewing through a scarce and precious metal, should this hydrogen thing ever take off. It’s still unclear whether it will, but it’s never a bad thing seeing big improvements to a potential clean power source.
What platinum does in a fuel cell is about as tricky as you’d expect, but the gist is that tiny particles of platinum in a special polymer help the hydrogen molecules split into protons and electrons. The electrons are…