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In a bid to unlock the full potential of hydrogen fuel cells as a cleaner alternative to conventional energy sources, researchers from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, and the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) have made significant strides in reducing the cost of fuel cell technology (opens in a new tab).
The breakthrough involves a radical shift in the catalyst composition, traditionally reliant on expensive platinum group metals (PGM), according to an SLAC release (opens in a new tab).
Hydrogen fuel cells have long been recognized for their promise in energy storage and conversion, but the prohibitive cost of PGMs in the catalyst has hindered widespread adoption. Michaela Burke Stevens, associate scientist with SLAC and Stanford University, explained, “Hydrogen fuel cells have really great potential for energy storage and conversion, using hydrogen as an alternative fuel to, say, gasoline. But it’s still fairly expensive to run a fuel cell.”