Novel Catalyst for Energy Storage

(Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, July 18, 2017)

A promising way to store energy is the hydrogen storage technique. In this process, electricity from solar or wind is used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which can then be stored and later converted into electrical energy using fuel cells. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute and Empa have now developed a new catalyst material that promises to be cheaper and more efficient than conventional catalysts. The novel material – a perovskite, which contains barium, strontium, cobalt, iron and oxygen – accelerates the cleavage of water molecules. This new nano-perovskite is more efficient because of the increased surface area on which the electrochemical reactions happen. It is also cheaper than comparable materials because it does not require precious metals, and the team is convinced that can be easily scaled up to industrial volume.