Rice University scientists turn unzipped nanotubes into possible alternative for platinum
Graphene nanoribbons formed into a three-dimensional aerogel and enhanced with boron and nitrogen are excellent catalysts for fuel cells, even in comparison to platinum, according to Rice University researchers.
A team led by materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan and chemist James Tour made metal-free aerogels from graphene nanoribbons and various levels of boron and nitrogen to test their electrochemical properties. In tests involving half of the catalytic reaction that takes place in fuel cells, they discovered versions with about 10 percent boron and nitrogen were efficient in catalyzing what’s known as an oxygen reduction reaction, a step in producing energy from feedstocks like methanol.
The research appeared in the American Chemical Society journal Chemistry of Materials.
Ajayan’s Rice lab has excelled in turning nanostructures into macroscopic materials, like the oil-absorbing sponges invented in 2012 or, more recently, solid nanotube blocks with controllable densities and porosities. The new research combines those abilities with the Tour lab’s 2009 method to unzip nanotubes into conductive graphene nanoribbons.
Researchers have come to realize that graphene’s potential as a catalyst doesn’t lie along the flat face but along the exposed edges where molecules prefer to interact. The Rice team chemically unzipped carbon nanotubes into ribbons and then collapsed them into porous, three-dimensional aerogels, simultaneously decorating the ribbons’ edges with boron and nitrogen molecules.
The new material provides an abundance of active sites along the exposed edges for oxygen reduction reactions. Fuel cells turn hydrogen (or sources of hydrogen like methane) into electricity through a process that strips electrons at one and recombines them with hydrogen and oxygen where the circuit closes. The primary waste products are carbon dioxide and water for methanol or, from hydrogen, just water.
The reactions in most current fuel cells are catalyzed by platinum, but platinum’s high cost has prompted the search for alternatives, Ajayan said.
“The key to developing carbon-based catalysts is in the doping process, especially with elements such as nitrogen and boron,” he said. “The graphitic carbon-boron-nitrogen systems have thrown many surprises in recent years, especially as a viable alternative to platinum-based catalysts.”. The Rice process is unique, he said, because it not only exposes the edges but also provides porous conduits that allow reactants to permeate the material.
Simulations by Rice theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and his students found that neither boron nor nitrogen doping alone would produce the desired reactions. Testing found that optimized boron/nitrogen aerogels were far better than platinum at avoiding the crossover effect, in which fuel like methanol permeates the polymer electrolyte that separates electrodes and degrades performance. The researchers observed no such effect in 5,000 cycles.
Read more: Aerogel catalyst shows promise for fuel cells
The Latest on: Aerogel catalyst
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Aerogel catalyst” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Aerogel catalyst
- Catalyst Pharmaceuticalson March 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in developing and commercializing novel medicines for patients living with rare diseases including Lambert-Eaton ...
- Aspen Aerogels: Impressive And Intriguingon March 25, 2024 at 2:54 am
Aspen Aerogels has seen significant growth and improved operating leverage recently, resulting in increased investor confidence. The company focuses on high-performance aerogel insulation for ...
- Aspen Aerogels Inc ASPNon March 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
We sell different types of products and services to both investment professionals and individual investors. These products and services are usually sold through license agreements or subscriptions ...
- Health Catalyston March 22, 2024 at 2:00 pm
When Health Catalyst begins working with a hospital system, it makes a sweet offer: Move your engineers over to the Utah-based software firm, and they’ll keep your data running and analyzable it ...
- New catalyst accelerates release of hydrogen from ammoniaon March 12, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Their newly developed catalyst significantly accelerates this reaction. AmmoRef is one of ten TransHyDE projects. Scientists from a total of eight institutions are working on various sub-projects ...
- Aspen Aerogels invests in East Providence factory to boost EV battery heat shield productionon March 7, 2024 at 4:00 pm
“Our PyroThin thermal barrier business has grown on an annual basis from less than $7 million in 2021, to over $55 million in 2022, and now to over $110 million in 2023,” Aspen Aerogels CEO ...
- Aspen Aerogels to Present at the 36th Annual ROTH Conferenceon March 4, 2024 at 4:29 am
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass., March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN) ("Aspen" or the "Company"), a technology leader in sustainability and ...
- Understanding Aerogels: Revolutionary Materials in Nanotechnologyon March 1, 2024 at 5:21 am
Aerogels are defined by their unique structure, composed of a network of interconnected nanopores and solid material, which can be made from various substances including silica, carbon, and metal ...
- Sustainable aerogels transform food and electronic waste into pure goldon February 29, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Now, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a promising sustainable solution to extract gold from e-waste by using amyloid aerogels derived from food waste. The approach offers promise as a ...
- Totango and Catalyst are merging to build a customer success powerhouseon February 28, 2024 at 7:07 am
“Everyone feels very excited about the potential of these two companies,” Catalyst CEO and co-founder Edward Chiu told TechCrunch. “So everybody is rolling their stock into the new business ...
via Bing News