The valuable metal platinum is the main catalyst for the chemical reactions occurring at the heart of the next generation of highly small and high-performing hydrogen fuel cells.
Highly ordered Pt3Co nanoparticles were prepared by a two-step reduction strategy. The half-wave potential of Pt3Co/C reached 0.87 V, showing excellent ORR performance. Image Credit: Zhonghua Xiang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
However, the high cost of platinum is avoiding the extensive adoption of this technology. However, scientists have engineered a nano-scaled platinum and cobalt alloy to use it as a catalyst. This helps in acutely decreasing the amount of platinum required to obtain the same—or even better—performance.
An explanation of his novel platinum-cobalt electrocatalyst and the method utilized to produce it was reported in the journal Particuology on December 15th,…