New Catalyst Paves the Path for Ethanol-Powered Fuel Cells

A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Delaware and Yeshiva University, has developed a new catalyst that could make ethanol-powered fuel cells feasible. The highly efficient catalyst performs two crucial, and previously unreachable steps needed to oxidize ethanol and produce clean energy in fuel cell reactions. Their results are published online in the Jan. 25, edition of Nature Materials.

Like batteries that never die, hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and, as part of the process, produce electricity. However, efficient production, storage, and transport of hydrogen for fuel cell use is not easily achieved. As an alternative, researchers are studying the incorporation of hydrogen-rich compounds, for example, the use of liquid ethanol in a system called a direct ethanol fuel cell.

"Ethanol is one of the most ideal reactants for fuel cells," says Brookhaven chemist Radoslav Adzic. "It's easy to produce, renewable, nontoxic, relatively easy to transport, and it has a high energy density. In addition, with some alterations, we could reuse the infrastructure that's currently in place to store and distribute gasoline."

A major hurdle to the commercial use of direct ethanol fuel cells is the molecule's slow, inefficient oxidation, which breaks the compound into hydrogen ions and electrons that are needed to generate electricity. Specifically, scientists have been unable to find a catalyst capable of breaking the bonds between ethanol's carbon atoms.

But at Brookhaven, scientists have found a winner. Made of platinum and rhodium atoms on carbon-supported tin dioxide nanoparticles, the research team's electrocatalyst is capable of breaking carbon bonds at room temperature and efficiently oxidizing ethanol into carbon dioxide as the main reaction product. Other catalysts, by comparison, produce acetalhyde and acetic acid as the main products, which make them unsuitable for power generation.

"The ability to split the carbon-carbon bond and generate CO2 at room temperature is a completely new feature of catalysis," Adzic says. "There are no other catalysts that can achieve this at practical potentials."

Structural and electronic properties of the electrocatalyst were determined using powerful x-ray absorption techniques at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source, combined with data from transmission electron microscopy analyses at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials. Based on these studies and calculations, the researchers predict that the high activity of their ternary catalyst results from the synergy between all three constituents -- platinum, rhodium, and tin dioxide -- knowledge that could be applied to other alternative
energy applications.

"These findings can open new possibilities of research not only for electrocatlysts and fuel cells but also for many other catalytic processes," Adzic says.

Next, the researchers say they will test the new catalyst in a real fuel cell in order to observe its unique characteristics first hand.

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U.S Embraces Clean Energy, But Beware Ethanol

Americans and their political leaders are increasingly embracing clean, renewable energy. But a foremost expert on energy and technology is warning against relying on ethanol as a solution.





Only one in fourAmerican voters today believe the United States is doing enough to promote and utilize alternative or "green" technologies and renewable energy sources to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources, according to a new poll by Zogby International and TechNet's Green Tech Task Force.





TechNet is a bipartisan political network of high tech CEOs promotes the growth of the innovation economy.





The Zogby/TechNet nationwide poll of 1,043 Americans found that 77% ofU.S. voters believe that our nation must do more to promote green technologies like renewable energy sources.



Wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydrogen and alternative fuels are all cleaner energy sources.



"The magnitude of global energy and environmental challenges demandsthat we act now to implement a sound energy strategy based on U.S. innovation," says John Doerr, TechNet founder and partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading technology venture capitral firm. "TechNet is committed to working with the president and Congress to reshape our energy future."

Renewable energy has been an area of research in the United States for decades, and maintains a dedicated lab at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.

Leaders in both parties of U.S. government are also increasingly turning to support clean energy as an alternative to U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Burning fossil fuels is also thought to be a major contributor to the carbon emissions blamed for global climate change.

Democrats who now control the the U.S. House of Representatives have passed a bill that would cut subsidies for oil production and impose a "conservation fee" on oil and gas taken from deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Funds collected would be steered toward renewable, clean energy sources. President Bush is also said ready in his upcoming State of the Union address to further complain of the U.S. dependence on oil and embrace renewable clean energy.

The Danger of Ethanol






However, ethanol will not be an attractive clean- or renewable-energy solution, says veteran Washington correspondent and energy and technology expert Llewellyn King.



Produced from vegetable matter high in sugar or starch and fermented and distilled to produce fuel, the United States already is producing 5 billion gallons of ethanol a year, King notes in his recent syndicated column. For more than 30 years, King published such publications as The Energy Daily and New Technology Week, and observed keenly developments in ethanol and other clean energies. Full disclosure: I used to work for Llewellyn King as editor of New Technology Week.



King, who remains host of the national public affairs TV show "White House Chronicle," says "President Bush is so taken with ethanol that he wants to expand production to 60 billion gallons a year by 2030."



The growing interest in ethanol is affecting the price of corn, driving up the price of meat, King says.



"Last year, there was a shortage of grain for livestock, and beef prices rocketed. Other dislocations are likely when corn becomes the must-grow cash crop," he writes.



Like others, King believes the United States must wean itself from oil and embrace new technologies -- but not ethanol. He suggests hybrid and all-electric vehicles as a better alternative.



"Not only is there something repugnant about using food for gasoline, but in all probability, it will cause damage to the whole agricultural cycle and to the agricultural economy," King writes. "This way lies madness. And it is shameful that so many environmental organizations, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, have embraced ethanol—which may save no energy whatsoever."








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