Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University scientists develop more efficient catalytic material for fuel cell applications | The Ames Laboratory

Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University scientists develop more efficient catalytic material for fuel cell applications | The Ames Laboratory
Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered a method for making smaller, more efficient intermetallic nanoparticles for fuel cell applications, and which also use less of the expensive precious metal platinum.
The researchers succeeded by overcoming some of the technical challenges presented in the fabrication of the platinum-zinc nanoparticles with an ordered lattice structure, which function best at the small sizes in which the chemically reactive surface area is highest in proportion to the particle volume.