Nanowires May Lead To Better Fuel Cells

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March 11, 2009

Nanowires May Lead To Better Fuel Cells

The creation of long platinum nanowires at the University of Rochester could soon lead to the development of commercially viable fuel cells.

Described in a paper published today in the journal Nano Letters, the new wires should provide significant increases in both the longevity and efficiency of fuel cells, which have until now been used largely for such exotic purposes as powering spacecraft. Nanowire enhanced fuel cells could power many types of vehicles, helping reduce the use of petroleum fuels for transportation, according to lead author James C. M. Li, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester.

"People have been working on developing fuel cells for decades. But the technology is still not being commercialized," says Li. "Platinum is expensive, and the standard approach for using it in fuel cells is far from ideal. These nanowires are a key step toward better solutions."

The platinum nanowires produced by Li and his graduate student Jianglan Shui are roughly ten nanometers in diameter and also centimeters in length—long enough to create the first self-supporting "web" of pure platinum that can serve as an electrode in a fuel cell.

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