A team of engineers at Case Western Reserve University, United States, has found that catalysts made of carbon nanotubes dipped in a polymer solution equal the energy output and otherwise outperform platinum catalysts in fuel cells. This simple technique could knock down one of the major roadblocks to fuel cell use: cost. Platinum currently sells for US$65,000 per kilogram, while the activated carbon nanotubes cost about US$100 per kilogram. Research team leader and professor of chemical engineering, Liming Dai, said, “This is a breakthrough.” Dai and his research associates found that by simply soaking carbon nanotubes in a water solution of the polymer polydiallyldimethylammoniumn chloride for a couple of hours, the polymer coats the nanotubes and creates a net positive charge. The fuel cells that used the nanotubes produced as much power as an identical cell using a platinum catalyst. According to the researchers, the activated nanotubes will last longer and are more stable than platinum. Dai said he is confident his lab will continue to increase energy output: “We have not optimized the system yet.” The team’s work was published in the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://blog.case.edu/think/2011/03/22/cheap_fuel_cell_catalyst_made_easy