DOE develops an ethanol Fuel Cell catalyst

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By Nino Marchetti
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 16:55

Upton (NY) - Scientists working for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory say they've developed a new catalyst which could make feasible ethanol-powered fuel cells. This step forward in fuel cell research marks a step further forward in developing clean, renewable energy sources.

This new catalyst, developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Delaware and Yeshiva University, provides for what the DOE says are two crucial and previously unreachable steps needed to oxidize ethanol. Their catalyst, made of platinum and rhodium atoms on carbon-supported tin dioxide nanoparticles, is capable of breaking carbon bonds at room temperature and efficiently oxidizing ethanol into carbon dioxide as the main reaction product.

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