New article: Using platinum-molybdenum carbide to catalytically release hydrogen to power a fuel cell read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/science/item/3176-using-platinum-molybdenum-carbide-to-catalytically-release-hydrogen-to-power-a-fuel-cell

A team of researchers from China and the U.S. has developed a way to use platinum–molybdenum carbide to catalytically release hydrogen from methanol and water to power a hydrogen fuel cell.

As the planet continues to heat up, scientists around the world seek ways to power automobiles in a way that are as economical as gasoline. Such efforts have led to electric vehicles, hybrids, cars and trucks running on natural gas, ethanol and other fuels, and of course, the ever-elusive hydrogen fuel cell.

In this new effort, the researchers suggest they may finally have found a way to make the last option viable.

Currently, there are a number of ways to obtain hydrogen for use in fuel cells, but thus far, none of them have proved economical enough to supplant the use of gasoline as the primary fuel for automobiles around the globe.

In this new effort, the researchers suggest they may have come up with a process that could make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles more practical.

The process involves using a new catalyst, platinum–molybdenum carbide, to drive a reaction that results in the production of H2 and releases carbon dioxide. The team reports that the process can be done at temperatures from 150 to 190 C° and avoids the use of caustic materials. They claim it is five times as efficient as other techniques that use methanol.

They also claim that a car with a 50 liter tank of methanol and just six to 10 grams of their catalyst could power a Toyota Mirai for approximately 690 km. Also, it would cost just $15 for the methanol and $320 for the platinum, which the team suggests, might be recyclable.

 

The group acknowledges that a process that releases carbon dioxide is not ideal, but note that many hydrogen-producing industrial processes do so, as well. They acknowledge that platinum is extremely expensive, but point out that current catalytic converters have approximately one to four grams of recyclable noble metals that could conceivably provide a source.