Home > Press > Pouring fire on fuels at the nanoscale
![]() |
Vidyadhar Singh is standing next to the advanced nanoparticle deposition system at OIST. CREDIT: OIST |
Abstract:
There are no magic bullets for global energy needs. But fuel cells in which electrical energy is harnessed directly from live, self-sustaining chemical reactions promise cheaper alternatives to fossil fuels.
To facilitate faster energy conversion in these cells, scientists disperse nanoparticles made from special metals called 'noble' metals, for example gold, silver and platinum along the surface of an electrode. These metals are not as chemically responsive as other metals at the macroscale but their atoms become more responsive at the nanoscale. Nanoparticles made from these metals act as a catalyst, enhancing the rate of the necessary chemical reaction that liberates electrons from the fuel. While the nanoparticles are being sputtered onto the electrode they squash together like putty, forming larger clusters. This compacting tendency, called sintering, reduces the overall surface area available to molecules of the fuel to interact with the catalytic nanoparticles, thus preventing them from realizing their full potential in these fuel cells.
Research by the Nanoparticles by Design Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), in collaboration with the SLAC National Laboratory in the USA and the Austrian Centre for Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis, has developed a way to prevent noble metal nanoparticles from compacting, by encapsulating them individually inside a porous shell made of a metal oxide. The OIST researchers published their findings in Nanoscale. Their work has immediate applications in the field of nano-catalysis for the manufacturing of more efficient fuel cells.
The OIST researchers designed a novel system. They encapsulated Palladium nanoparticles in a shell of Magnesium oxide. Then they dispersed this core-shell combination on an electrode and measured the immersed electrode's abilities in improving the rate of the electrochemical reaction that occurs in methanol fuel cells. They demonstrated that encapsulated Palladium nanoparticles give a significantly superior performance than bare Palladium nanoparticles.
The OIST researchers had previously realized that Magnesium oxide nanoparticles could form porous shells around noble metal nanoparticles while studying Magnesium and Palladium nanoparticles separately. The porosity of this added armor ensures it does not screen molecules of the fuel from reaching the encapsulated Palladium. Electron microscopy images confirmed that the Magnesium oxide shell simply acts as a spacer between the Palladium cores as they try to stick to each other, letting each to realize its full reactive potential.
The advanced nanoparticle deposition system at OIST allowed the researchers to fine tune the experimental parameters and vary the thickness of the encapsulating shell as well as the number of Palladium nanoparticles in the core with relative ease. Tuning sizes and structures of nanoparticles alters their physical and chemical properties for different applications.
"More core-shell combinations can be tried using our technique, with metals cheaper than Palladium for instance, like Nickel or Iron. Our results show enough promise to continue in this new direction," said Vidyadhar Singh, the paper's first author, and postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Prof. Mukhles Sowwan, the director of OIST's Nanoparticles by Design Unit, who was also a corresponding author of the paper.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Kaoru Natori
81-989-662-389
Copyright © Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate Univers
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Discoveries
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Enhancing transverse thermoelectric conversion performance in magnetic materials with tilted structural design: A new approach to developing practical thermoelectric technologies December 13th, 2024
FSU researchers develop new methods to generate and improve magnetism of 2D materials December 13th, 2024
Announcements
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Leading the charge to better batteries February 28th, 2025
Quantum interference in molecule-surface collisions February 28th, 2025
New ocelot chip makes strides in quantum computing: Based on "cat qubits," the technology provides a new way to reduce quantum errors February 28th, 2025
Tools
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
New 2D multifractal tools delve into Pollock's expressionism January 17th, 2025
Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024
Energy
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures August 16th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Fuel Cells
Current and Future Developments in Nanomaterials and Carbon Nanotubes: Applications of Nanomaterials in Energy Storage and Electronics October 28th, 2022
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
![]() |
![]() |
||
Premium Products | ||
![]() |
||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
![]() |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
![]() |