A solution to dramatically reducing the cost of fuel cell production may have been discovered in the US
An engineering team at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee may have found a cheap alternative to the current catalysts required to make microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and could extend to the microbial electrolysis cells (MECs).
Both types of cells could ultimately become replacements for fossil fuels, with the auto industry striving to find the best solution to create the ultra-clean fuel cells. The microbial cells use organic matter to create either electricity (MFCs) or hydrogen (MECs the latter being the primary goal of vehicle manufacturers.
In both cases, the microbes require a catalyst to stimulate their activity and this is usually made from platinum, making mass production costs prohibitive.
The scientists have developed nitrogen-enriched iron-carbon nanorods which could reduce the cost to about five percent of platinum-based catalysts. The latest nanorods were also tested against other potential alternatives, including graphene, and were found to deliver better performance.
Although the nanorods are scaleable, the US researchers still face the challenge of knowing just how easy they would be to mass producce.