Tuesday, 19th July 2005 (4918 views)

The US Department of Energy has released funds to research the use of gold catalysts in the use of hydrogen vehicles.

A University of Wyoming chemistry professor received a $300,000 grant as part of an ongoing drive to make hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations available and affordable for American consumers by 2020.

The project will last for three years with emphasis on identifying and testing nanoscale catalysts that are essential for the chemical reactions needed to produce electricity from hydrogen in fuel cells, reports dBusinessNews.

Previous projects have worked with nanoscale oxygen reduction catalysts, including gold, and it is expected that the funding will further this research.

"One reason is because catalysts needed to produce electricity are now very expensive," said Dan Buttry, who will lead UW efforts.

"Platinum is the only one that works now, and the process is slow and inefficient."

"Gold is less expensive and far more abundant than platinum," he added.

The UW research is among 70 DOE-funded hydrogen research projects to achieve what is described as "revolutionary breakthroughs in hydrogen production and storage in addition to new fuel cell technologies".

 

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