New catalyst with 75% less platinum promises to reduce the cost of hydrogen fuel cells

The high cost of platinum is one of the main barriers to the wider adoption of hydrogen fuel cells.

The short version

• Now, researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute have developed a catalyst that delivers the same performance while using 75% less of this expensive metal.
• The study, published in Electrochimica Acta, demonstrates a breakthrough made possible by applying controlled mechanical compression to the catalyst.
• This modifies its atomic-scale structure, enabling it to achieve energy efficiency comparable to that of pure platinum.

What happened

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . "This breakthrough demonstrates that elastic strain engineering is a viable and precise strategy for designing much more cost-effective catalysts," explains IMDEA Materials' Jorge Redondo, the study's lead author.

Why it matters

However, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which produces water as a byproduct, is one of the slowest steps in the process.

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