Edge-halogenated Graphene Could Take Platinum’s Place in Fuel Cells

R&D Magazine reported that the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology’s research team has found a way to use edge-halogenated graphene nanoplatelets to create low-cost fuel cells. The nanoplatelets could replace platinum, the metal normally used in the process.

As quoted in the market news:

The research team of Profs. Jong-Beam Baek and Noejung Park of UNIST, and Prof. Liming Dai of Case Western Reserve Univ., for the first time, reportedly synthesized a series of edge-selectively halogenated (Cl, Br and I) graphene nanoplatelets (XGnPs) by ball-milling graphite flake in the presence of chlorine (Cl₂), bromine (Br₂) or iodine (I₂), respectively. The newly prepared XGnPs as metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) stand as a possible replacement for platinum (Pt), which is currently the most reliable material for cathodic ORR electrocatalysts in fuel cells.

Click here to read the full R&D Magazine report.