Fuel cells getting closer to everyday use

BY FOCUSING ON CARBON NANotubes, researchers may soon be able to reduce the cost of producing fuel cells that have the potential to be a highly efficient zero emission energy source for powering cars, buses, and homes.

Carbon nanotubes, tiny tubes about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair, can act as catalyst support in fuel cells to reduce the need for platinum nanoparticles, said Yushan Yan, University of California at Riverside associate professor.

Fuel cell systems produce highly efficient, zero emission electrical energy. Ideally, chemicals continuously flow through the cells, making it a constant energy source.

Yan and his team are concentrating on organically functionalized carbon nanotubes to further reduce the need for platinum nanoparticles in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), which automobile manufacturers favor to replace the combustible engine. Other manufacturers said they consider them ideal for a wide range of other applications, including replacing rechargeable batteries.

Platinum represents one of the largest expenses in producing PEMFCs, thus reducing the chances of fuel cells more commercially viable.

"(Platinum) is one of the major cost drivers for fuel cells, and thus, reducing the (platinum) use will reduce the cost of fuel cells, which is the major barrier for commercialization," said Yan.

Yan and his team wrote a paper entitled "Deposition of Platinum Nanoparticles on Organic Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes Grown in Situ on Carbon Paper for Fuel Cells."