Researchers from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea have revealed a novel technique for utilizing heat treatment to create evenly sized cobalt-platinum (Co-Pt) alloy nanoparticles.
Co and Pt ions are encircled by bipyridine and chlorine ligands, respectively. The bipyridine ligand subsequently undergoes thermal decomposition during the heat treatment, forming a carbon shell that can shield the developing Co-Pt alloy nanoparticles.
The “simple and scalable technique” offers improved fuel cell power performance with less platinum use, according to the research team. It “showed over twice the power performance per platinum use,” according to the researchers, when compared to fuel cell catalysts.
