![]() ![]() “People recognize that fuel cells are the way to go. “Hydrogen fuel cells are enormously powerful, enabling you to run at an efficiency that simply does not exist for more traditional engines,” Abruña said. By comparison, a typical car engine wastes about 75% of its energy. If affordable, fuel cells could replace combustion engines and car batteries with a sustainable alternative that, fed a steady diet of hydrogen, never needs to recharge and wastes as little as 10% of the energy that goes into making it run. Those savings may help finally brings hydrogen fuel cells out of the laboratory and into the mainstream. But the cobalt nitride catalyst was “the clear winner,” Abruña said, with near identical efficiency to platinum while costing 475 times less as of Feb. Manganese- and iron-based candidates made strong showings. After synthesizing a family of TMNs with conductive nitride cores and reactive oxide shells, the team tested each candidate catalyst in a model hydrogen fuel cell. A class of compounds derived from cobalt, manganese, iron and other transition metals, TMNs conduct electricity and, when exposed to air, tend to form a thin oxygen-based outer shell that provides a perfect surface for catalyzing chemical reactions. Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) were an obvious choice, and DiSalvo is a world expert on these materials, Abruña said. Abruña and his team set out to engineer an inexpensive material, fit for an alkaline fuel cell, that would conduct electricity and catalyze the ORR reaction just as efficiently as platinum. ![]() Lately, however, more forgiving alkaline fuel cells have gained prominence, raising the possibility that less expensive metals, once ruled out for their vulnerability to acidic environments, might replace platinum in these gentler, next-generation fuel cells. A model catalyst, platinum conducts electricity, catalyzes the most temperamental reactions with aplomb, and is hardy enough to survive the harsh, acidic environment of a fuel cell. Hydrogen fuel cells, which convert hydrogen directly into electricity with only water and a small amount of heat as byproducts, are promising renewable alternatives.Ī critical part of the fuel cell is the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), an infamously sluggish process – Abruña often calls it “God’s collective punishment to electrochemistry” – that is traditionally sped up by platinum and other precious metals. 2 in “Nonprecious Transition Metal Nitrides as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Fuel Cells,” in the journal Science Advances.Īs long as combustion engines rule the streets and fill the skies with smog, it is hard to imagine a sustainable future for transportation. ’21, and Huiqi Li, a visiting graduate student from Xiamen University and Lauryn M. Newman emeritus professor of chemistry doctoral student Rui Zeng Yao Yang, Ph.D. “They will push us away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources.”Ībruña, with co-authors Francis DiSalvo, the John A. Chamot Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. “These less expensive metals will enable wider deployment of hydrogen fuel cells,” said Héctor D. This finding brings closer a future where hydrogen fuel cells efficiently power cars, generators and even spacecraft with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The system can also be integrated with our existing battery electric LCV platform, meaning minimum variation and maximum synergies between the full battery-electric and the hydrogen versions.Cornell chemists have discovered a class of nonprecious metal derivatives that can catalyze fuel cell reactions about as well as platinum, at a fraction of the cost. To preserve payload capacity, all components of the fuel cell propulsion system are external to the cargo space. Hydrogen provides the energy needed for extended driving range, while a medium capacity battery provides the power for dynamic performance in addition to energy recovery and plug-in capability. Given the profile of our customers, we have designed a mid-power architecture solution which delivers a range of more than 400 kilometers (certification pending) and refueling in just 3 minutes. This solution is particularly suited to the needs of light commercial vehicle (LCV) customers requiring long-range, fast refueling and zero-emissions.all without compromising payload capacity. Stellantis has developed a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Zero Emission solution which combines the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells and electric battery technology in a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). Beyond electrification, Stellantis is pursuing a broad spectrum of energy carriers and powertrain technologies to address the widest range of mobility requirements. ![]()
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