Hello all, I'm doing a science project related to improving efficiency of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells / reducing costs of manufacturing PEM fuel cells.I'm specifically interested in developing a more efficient catalyst as opposed to platinum. I would appreciate it if you could supply with a few helpful websites / point me in the right direction. Thanks alot.
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Well to answer your first question, I am not aware of any ongoing research focusing on developing a different catalyst for PEM (or any other type of fuel cell), other than platinum. Catalytic research, in this area, has focused more on developing much better ways of applying the chosen catalyst. This means developing thinner and thinner mediums for which the reactants interact. One early method was electroplating. Even though this produced very thin films of platinum, with the recent progress in nanotechnology, it has been forgone for more efficient methods of application. One popular method of platinum nanoparticles attached to the surface of slightly larger carbon nanoparticles. These are put in contact with the electrode and increase the half-cell reaction rate much the same as solid platinum does, but at a fraction of the cost. As far as increasing the effiency of the fuel cells, all fuel cells (except those using fossils fuels) can be fitted with a cogenerative aparatus, which enables waste water to be electrolyzed by some of the output current and the components (gaseous oxygen and hydrogen) to be recycled as fuel. This can easily increase efficiency of the fuel cell 10-20% (depending on the type of fuel cell. Another method of increasing the effiency is to increase the purity of the fuel involved. This decreases the likelihood that the catalyst will become poisoned. And need to be replaced.
