Energy Focus
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Energy Quarterly
ENERGY FOCUS Catalyst with AuCu core–Pt shell increases stability of fuel cell Energy Environ. Sci. DOI: 10.1039/C2EE22172A
To reduce costs and increase the stability of the catalyst material in fuel cells, researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at A*STAR in Singapore have replaced the central part of the commercial platinum catalyst with a gold and copper alloy, leaving just the outer layer in platinum. The team of researchers, led by Jackie Y. Ying, reported that their nanocomposite material can pass (with minimal overpotential) at nanocomposite material, composed least 0.57 A per mg of Pt from This of gold-copper alloy atoms in the core and platinum atoms at the outer layer, the electrocatalytic reaction of provides longer stability and reduced over commercial platinum catalysts oxygen with hydrogen in the fuel costs for fuel cells. Image courtesy of Agency for Science, Technology and Research cell, compared to 0.10 A per mg (A*STAR), Singapore. of Pt for commercial platinum catalysts. The gold-copper alloy core of the nanocrystalline material has slightly smaller lattice spacing than the platinum coating on the nanocrystal’s surface. This creates a compressive strain on the surface platinum atoms, making the platinum more active in the rate-limiting step of oxygen reduction for the fuel cell. Replacing the core of the nanoparticle with a gold-copper alloy can also reduce the cost (Au and Pt prices are similar).
Tim Palucka
to precisely probe for spin wave behavior. The researchers reported that the difference in energies demonstrated that the energy transferred to these magnetic spins created a spin wave behavior.
Thermoelectric material increases capture of waste heat Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature11439
By controlling the mesoscale architecture of PbTe nanostructured thermoelectric materials, researchers at Northwestern University, led by Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, have fabricated the most efficient thermoelectric material to date, with a figure of merit (ZT) >2. This material, with a ZT of approximately 2.2 at 915 K, could lead to a viable method of turning some of the high-temperature waste heat, which is responsible for the loss of almost two-thirds of the energy used, into electricity. While nanostructured thermoelectric materials have been effective in scattering heat-carrying phonons with short and medium mean free paths, this new material, which includes meso- and nanostructural features, can also scatter phonons with long mean free paths. This hierarchical architecture greatly reduces the overall lattice thermal conductivity, making it possible to trap more heat that can be converted to electricity, thus increasing ZT.
Lab simulates energy usage in home www.nist.gov
Spin waves revealed in 2D high-temperature superconductors Nature Mater. DOI: 10.1038/nmat3409
In order to take advantage of high-temperature superconductors that can conduct electricity without any losses, thereby improving energy efficiency and, thus, saving energy, researchers are looking for s
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