Researchers now understand much better why the metal platinum is so efficient at producing energy in hydrogen fuel cells.
"Understanding the ability of the platinum metal to accelerate chemical reactions will allow scientists to develop significantly cheaper metal alloy or synthetic alternatives for use in sustainable devices, such as fuel cells," explains scientist Gregory Jerkiewicz, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, who led the groundbreaking research published in the journal the scientific Langmuir.
The research team discovered that when platinum is involved in reactions involving hydrogen atoms, a monoatomic layer of hydrogen forms on its surface. This feature gives the platinum metal a hydrophobic character (repelling water), which means that stray water molecules found inside the fuel cell cannot bind tightly to the surface of the metal.
The hydrophobic nature of the platinum metal in this form means that hydrogen molecules are able to easily attach to the surface of the metal and split into smaller particles without requiring additional energy to drive away water molecules that are in their orbit.
The reduction in the energy required for the connection of the hydrogen molecules to the surface of the platinum means that the process is fast and efficient and that the fuel cell is able to produce a lot of energy.
