>
Spotlight October 2023: Improved hydrogen production through novel catalyst made of three metals
Hydrogen is one of the important energy carriers of the future when it comes to climate-relevant energy supply. For example, surplus electricity from wind turbines or solar plants can be converted into hydrogen, allowing the otherwise unused energy to be stored for longer periods. This hydrogen can be used to power trucks and buses for local public transport as well as other vehicles in an environmentally and climate-friendly way, or it can be converted back into electricity. However, the production of hydrogen using electricity has so far been relatively inefficient, so catalysts are being feverishly sought to help improve this process.
One possibility now seems to have been discovered in a novel catalyst. Korean researchers have synthesized this catalyst from the three known metals nickel, palladium and platinum, which enables the production of hydrogen about 8 times better than previous platinum-carbon catalysts. This high activity of the catalyst is possible due to the very small subunits in nanometer size. Nickel/platinum and palladium/platinum interfaces are created, which are arranged in a specific order to each other and thus considerably facilitate the processes of hydrogen production.
Such and other expected developments in catalyst chemistry will help secure future energy supplies and contribute to a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy supply.
Original publication:
Gu, B.S., Dutta, S., Hong, Y.R., Ngome Okello, O.F., Im, H., Ahn, S., Choi, S.Y., Woo Han, J., Ryu, S., and Lee, I.S. (2023). Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 62, e202307816.
Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight December 2020: Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II
In December we would like to draw attention to the special issue: Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II in small. In the July Spotlight we already presented Part I. This special issue “Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II” also features research papers by renowned scientists in the field of nanosafety research. The first part of this special […]
Read moreSpotlight March 2021: Is Nanotechnology the Swiss Army Knife against Future Pandemics?
The COVID 19 outbreak has led to a fundamental rethinking of existing approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention methods. The need for better and more efficient concepts is global and urgent. Nanotechnology has long been at the forefront of innovation and has led to advances in many different disciplines. Could this interdisciplinary field help develop […]
Read moreSpotlight August 2020: The nanoGRAVUR Grouping approach
In August, we would like to present a paper of the German BMBF project nanoGRAVUR. nanoGRAVUR dealt from 2015-2018 with the grouping of nanostructured materials with regard to occupational safety, consumer and environmental protection and risk mitigation. The approach is now described by the project partners in this paper.Due to the variety of synthetic nanomaterials and the numerous modifications (differences in size, shape, chemical composition and surface functionalization), the effort required to investigate effects and behaviour within the framework of regulatory requirements is…
Read moreSpotlight September: A methodology for the automatic evaluation of data quality and completeness of nanomaterials for risk assessment purposes
This paper describes a method for automatically assessing the quality and completeness of nanosafety data for the purpose of risk assessment. Steps to develop the methodology for assessing data completeness and the methodology for assessing quality are presented. The methodology is tailored to physicochemical and hazard (meta) data, but can also be configured with appropriate […]
Read more