VATIS UPDATE Article

Researchers at CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI), Tamil Nadu, India and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India, have developed a graphene catalyst which has potential for making fuel cells. The silver-nanowire-decorated boron-doped graphene catalyst that helps convert electrochemical energy to electricity. An important reaction in fuel cells is the oxygen reduction reaction, which is often slow. The need for platinum-based catalysts also makes fuel cells expensive.

To prepare a cheap and efficient catalyst, scientists deposited silver nanowire on boron-doped graphene sheets. They then tested its efficiency in speeding oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The catalyst-incorporated fuel cells showed a very high onset potential and current density. Its efficiency was comparable to that of commercially available platinum-based catalysts. The catalyst contained porous channels which allowed the transport of oxygen gas and hydroxyl ions during the reaction.

It also exhibited stability over a period of seven hours with a low yield of hydrogen peroxide known to disrupt oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. “The method provides a way to develop a low-cost and thermally stable catalyst as an efficient alternative to platinum-based fuel-cell catalysts,” said Subbiah Alwarappan from the CSIR-CECRI.