Platinum mixed with yttrium was used to create a new nanoalloy for mass production of fuel cells. (Source: Chalmers University of Technology)Fuel cells have long been viewed as a potential replacement to the internal combustion engine, in addition to being a much more environmentally friendly fuel source. While fuel cell cars have been around for 50 years, commercial success has been limited because these cells require large amounts of platinum, a precious, rare and very expensive metal.

Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Technical University of Denmark have developed a new nanoalloy using a new production technique that significantly reduces the need for platinum in fuel cells.

“A nano solution is needed to mass-produce resource-efficient catalysts for fuel cells,” says Björn Wickman, researcher at the Department of Physics at Chalmers University of Technology. “With our method, only one-tenth as much platinum is needed for the most demanding reactions. This can reduce the amount of platinum required for a fuel cell by about 70%.”

At this level of efficiency, researchers believe it is possible to develop a fuel cell that contains the amount of platinum comparable to what is used in an ordinary catalytic converter.

“Hopefully, this will allow fuel cells to replace fossil fuels and also be a complement to battery-powered cars,” Wickman says.

Previous research explored reducing the platinum in fuel cells by mixing it with other metals, such as yttrium, but no one was able to create alloys with these metals in nanoparticle form that could be used for large-scale production. The main problem being that yttrium oxidizes instead of forming an alloy with platinum.

Chalmers was able to solve this problem by combining the metals in a vacuum chamber using a technique called sputtering. The result is a nanometer-thin film of the new alloy that allows for mass-produced platinum and yttrium fuel cell catalysts. Using the material in fuel cells would only require a slight change to the design, researchers say, offering up an incredible opportunity to replace current engines in vehicles.

“When we can use our resources better, we save both the environment and lower costs,” says Niklas Lindahl, researcher at the Department of Physics at Chalmers. “Fuel cells convert chemical energy into electrical energy using hydrogen and oxygen — with water as the only product. They have huge potential for sustainable energy solutions in transport, portable electronics and energy.”

The full research details can be found in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.