The latest advance in imaging technology helps optimize catalysts for use in onboard fuel processing
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - 08:01
in Physics & Chemistry
The presence of carbon monoxide (CO) impurities in hydrogen gas (H2) can have a detrimental impact on the performance of fuel cells. Recent studies have shown that gold nanoparticles—particles less than five nanometers wide—can catalytically remove CO impurities from H2 under mild temperature and pressure conditions. This breakthrough understanding has helped facilitate the development of fuel-cell vehicles that use 'onboard' fuel processing technology. Unfortunately, gold nanoparticles tend to lose their catalytic activity after a few hours of use—and scientists need to overcome this problem if gold nanoparticles are to be used.