Scientists in the US working on improving the efficiency of fuel cells in producing energy have found that using a palladium catalyst could be the answer.

According to Fuel Cell Works, Manos Mavrikakis from the University of Wisconsin at Madison has identified the oxygen reaction that is responsible for about 60 per cent of efficiency loss in common fuel cell designs.

Splitting oxygen molecules into oxygen atoms and the subsequent formation of water reduces the amount of usable energy generated by fuel cells.

Professor Mavrikakis and his team are now exploring how to make the reaction more efficient by using 'platinum-monolayer' catalysts, which feature a coating of platinum just an atom thick, covering cheaper material.

In an article published last year, they reported that palladium with the platinum monolayer improved the overall efficiency of the oxygen reduction reaction by 33 per cent.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd