New research carried out by scientists from the US and China has created new platinum nanocrystals with a heightened catalytic activity compared to normal platinum.

Researchers from the School of Materials, Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US and the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Xiamen University in China have developed 24-facet platinum nanocrystals with a catalytic activity per unit area of up to four times that of existing commercial platinum catalysts.

The technology could be used to improve the development of fuel cells, by creating a greater catalysis in fuel oxidation and therefore delivering higher volumes of hydrogen.

Explaining the development, Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents Professor in Georgia, said: "This new shape for platinum catalyst nanoparticles greatly improves their activity. This work also demonstrates a new method for producing metallic nanocrystals with high-energy surfaces."

The platinum nanocrystals were developed electrochemically from platinum nanospheres placed on a carbon substrate.

Sources:

Platinum nanocrystals boost catalytic activity for fuel oxidation, hydrogen production, 3/05/07
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/giot-pnb043007.php

Better Catalysts for Fuel Cells, 4/05/07
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18669/

Synthesis of Tetrahexahedral Platinum Nanocrystals with High-Index Facets and High Electro-Oxidation Activity, 4/05/07
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/316/5825/732

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