Nanoparticles improve catalysers

Since platinum catalysers are very expensive, lower cost alternatives are being developed that can offer a particularly large “active surface”. One way of doing this is to apply catalytically active nanoparticles to a base material. Working in collaboration with the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, HZB scientists led by Dr. Ingo Manke and Dr. Roman Grothausmann have now gained insight into the structure and effect of such a catalyser. Using electron tomography, the group has produced the first ever three-dimensional representations of nanometresized catalyser particles made of ruthenium. Their work entailed taking pictures from different angles with an electron microscope and then using the results to compute high-resolution 3D images. For this purpose, the group also developed new computation techniques in order to analyse the chemically active surface of the particles and its effect. Catalysers of this type have the potential for use above all in fuel-cell powered vehicles.

HZB/Red.