Physics research published

Sergey Stolbov and Marisol Alcántara Ortigoza, from the University of Central Florida, have published their study on the new efficient electrocatalysts in a recent issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Currently, most hydrogen fuel cells use catalysts made of platinum, a rare and expensive material. Finding an alternative to platinum is challenging because few materials can withstand exposure to the fuel cells’ highly acidic solvents, which dissolve most transition metals. Only four elements – platinum, iridium, gold, and palladium – can resist corrosion, but none is ideal. Platinum and iridium are rare and expensive, while gold and palladium do not perform well due to low redox reactivity.

In this study, Stolbov and Alcántara Ortigoza focused on improving the redox reactivity of gold and palladium through the use of in-depth modeling.

You can read more about it here.