Print
Email
Print Edition StoriesThursday, September 23, 2010
Tufts, Harvard research cites progress in hydrogen power
By James M. Connolly
MHT's Kyle Alspach: Maine tidal power firm snags $10M federal grant
Carbonrally joins gaming with cutting carbon emissions
Engineering researchers from three universities have published a paper that details ways to increase production of hydrogen as a clean source of energy for fuel-cell-powered devices and vehicles.
The key component in the research, conducted at Tufts University, Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a catalyst that requires smaller amounts of precious metals such as platinum while working at lower temperatures.
The paper, published today in the journal Science, was written by a team led by Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, a Tufts School of Engineering professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Manos Mavrikakis, a UW-Madison professor of chemical and biological engineering.
The U.S. demand for hydrogen is about 9 million tons per year.
The team developed a catalyst using only trace amounts of platinum, an expensive metal. Working at lower temperatures than the current steam-based methods, the new catalyst is a series of small clusters, with each cluster composed of one or a few platinum atoms surrounded by a mixture of oxygen, hydroxyl and potassium atoms seated on standard aluminum or silica support.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
