Swarf hosts platinum to make ‘highly efficient catalyst’

The researchers from Nottingham University's School of Chemistry and Faculty of Engineering have found that the surface of swarf is textured with nanoscale steps and grooves that can anchor atoms of platinum or cobalt, leading to an efficient electrocatalyst that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The research has been published in the Journal of Material Chemistry A of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Electrolysis of water is a promising green method for producing hydrogen, but this process requires rare and expensive elements like platinum to catalyse the water splitting. With the limited global supply and increasing prices of precious metals, there is an urgent need for alternative electrocatalyst materials to produce hydrogen from water.

In a statement, research lead Dr Jesum Alves Fernandes, School of Chemistry, Nottingham University, said: “By using a scanning electron microscope, we were able to inspect the seemingly smooth surfaces of the stainless steel, titanium, or nickel alloy swarf. To our astonishment, we discovered that the surfaces had grooves and ridges that were only tens of nanometres wide. We realised that this nanotextured surface could present a unique opportunity for the fabrication of electrocatalysts.”