Non-platinum material could be used as a catalyst in fuel cells

Brown University chemist Shouheng Sun and his students said they have developed a new material — a graphene sheet covered by cobalt and cobalt-oxide nanoparticles — that can catalyse the oxygen-reduction reaction nearly as well as platinum can and is substantially more durable.

The new material has the best reduction performance of any non-platinum catalyst, said Shaojun Guo, postdoctoral researcher in Sun’s lab and lead author of a paper published online in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

The oxygen-reduction reaction occurs on the cathode side of a hydrogen fuel cell. Oxygen functions as an electron sink, stripping electrons from hydrogen fuel at the anode and creating the electrical pull that keeps the current running through electrical devices powered by the cell.

‘The reaction requires a catalyst, and platinum is currently the best one,’ said Sun in a statement. ‘But it’s very expensive and has a very limited supply, and that’s why you don’t see a lot of fuel-cell use aside from a few special purposes.’