LONG-LASTING FUEL CELLS ON THE WAY

摘要

Toyota has developed a way to treat fuel-cell catalyst degradation that could lead to a new generation of more efficient and longer-lasting fuel-cell stacks. Working with the Japan Fine Ceramics Center, the OEM has developed a new observation technique that allows researchers to monitor the behaviour of nanometer-sized particles of platinum during reactions in the fuel cells. This allows processes leading to reduced catalytic reactivity to be observed. Platinum is an essential catalyst for the electricity-producing chemical reactions occurring between oxygen and hydrogen in the fuel-cell stacks. When the platinum nanoparticles increase in size and decrease in surface area, reactivity is reduced but scientists have been unable to observe the root causes of this until now.