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Fuel for the hydrogen economy

26th August 2008

Cheaper and more effective hydrogen fuel cells made without platinum

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Scientists and politicians have long dreamed of a “hydrogen economy” – one run on fuel cells that use metal electrodes to combine hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity (with only water as exhaust). But pragmatists point out that the hydrogen economy has proved elusive: Existing fuel cells are inefficient and expensive.

Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, publishing their work July 31 in the journal Science, say they may have brought us one step closer with a simple solution – replacing a costly platinum electrode with a cheaper material made from indium tin oxide that is immersed in a cobalt and potassium phosphate solution.

When voltage is applied to the electrode, water is oxidized to form oxygen gas and free hydrogen ions. At another electrode, coated with platinum, the hydrogen ions form hydrogen gas. In a fuel cell, the oxygen and hydrogen would be recombined to provide electricity.

Published in The Green Report in The Globe and Mail

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• Tags:
• Energy
• Hydrogen Economy
• Research
• Science
• Technology

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