| RESEARCHERS AT THE University of Rochester, New York, have developed a technique to produce platinum nanowires which could lead to the introduction of commercially-available fuel cells. James Li and Jianglan Shui used a process called electrospinning to produce the nanowires, which are 10 nm in diameter and a few centimetres long, thousands of times longer than any platinum nanowires previously produced. Platinum is generally accepted as the most efficient catalyst for hydrogen production in fuel cells, but its cost is prohibitive. Making nanowires from the precious metal vastly increases the surface area, improving its efficiency and therefore reducing the amount of platinum required to make a fuel cell. Standard methods of making fuel cells involve a support of carbon, which oxidises over time, reducing the life of the cell as platinum is lost. Platinum nanowires can be woven together to be self-supporting. "The reason people have not come to nanowires before is that it's very hard to make them," says Li. "The parameters affecting the morphology of the wires are complex. And when they are not sufficiently long, they behave the same as nanoparticles." Previous attempts at producing nanowires from platinum have resulted in beaded wire, rather than smooth wire, which reduces the surface area. The nanowires Li and Shui created are not completely bead-free, so the next stage of the process will involve improving the electrospinning technique still further to eliminate the beading. They then hope to build a demonstration fuel cell using the nanowires. |