A team of researchers has demonstrated that well-decomposed peat could serve as a sustainable and highly efficient precursor for next-gen fuel cell catalysts and potentially replace expensive platinum.
The study was carried out by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the universities of Tartu and Tallinn in Estonia.
They aimed to create a platinum-free catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in anion exchange membrane fuel cells, where platinum remains the dominant cost driver. Iron–nitrogen–carbon (Fe-N-C) catalysts could offer a cheaper alternative to today’s platinum catalysts currently used in fuel cells.
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