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TUM research team develops platinum nanoparticles with catalytic performance that is twice as efficient as current catalysts


Fuel cells can very well replace batteries as the power source for electric vehicles. They consume hydrogen, a gas that can be produced using surplus electricity from wind farms. However, platinum for fuel cells is rare and very expensive, which has been a limiting factor in current applications.

A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), consisting of Roland Fischer, professor of chemistry of inorganic and organometallics, Aliaksand Bandarenka, professor of physics of energy conversion and storage, and energy conversion nanoparticles Led by Systems Simulation Professor Alessio Gaglaridi, the team has chosen to reduce the size of the platinum particles to a level that would allow them to perform twice as well as the best processes currently available on the market.

Ideal: A platinum "egg" is only one nanometer in size

In a fuel cell, hydrogen reacts with oxygen to form water, producing electricity in the process. To optimize this conversion process, complex catalysts are used on the electrodes. Platinum plays a central role in redox reactions.

To find an ideal solution, the team created a computer model of the complete system. The central question is: How small can a platinum atomic group be and still be highly catalytic? "It turns out there is a certain optimal size for platinum piles," Fisher explains. Particles about 1 nanometer in size and containing about 40 platinum atoms are ideal. A platinum catalyst of this size is small but has a large number of highly active sites with high-quality activity, Bandarenka said.

Cross-domain cooperation

Interdisciplinary collaboration at the Catalysis Research Center (CRC) is an important factor in the research team's results. Combining the theoretical capabilities of modeling, joint discussions, and physical and chemical knowledge gained from experiments resulted in a model that shows how the catalyst can be designed with the ideal form, size and size distribution of the components involved.

In addition, CRC has the expertise required to create and experimentally test the calculated platinum nanocatalysts. "This requires a lot of inorganic synthesis," says Kathrin Kratzl, one of the study's three lead authors along with Batyr Garlyyev and Marlon Räck.

Twice as efficient as traditional catalysts

The experiments accurately confirmed the theoretical predictions. "Our catalyst is twice as efficient as the best conventional catalysts on the market," said Garlyyev, adding that this is still not enough for commercial applications, since a current 50% reduction in the amount of platinum must be increased to 80%.

In addition to spherical nanoparticles, researchers also hope to obtain higher catalytic activity from more complex shapes. Computer models built within the partnership are ideally suited to this modeling. "However, more complex shapes require more sophisticated synthesis methods," Bandarenka said. This will make computational and experimental studies increasingly important in the future.

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