Fall/Winter

2004-05

Volume

18

Issue

1

Connecting With Cornell
[NEWS from the Office of the Vice Provost]

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At Cornell

Cornell’s Fuel Cell Technology
Nears Profitable Results

In 2001, while Frank J. DiSalvo and Héctor D. Abruña, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, were discussing the research of Abruña’s group on catalysts for fuel cells, DiSalvo made a recommendation that would change the course of both their research efforts and lead to the creation of the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute. Sean Smith, a doctoral candidate working with Abruña, had made a surprisingly efficient new catalyst for fuel cell electrodes by depositing atoms of bismuth on the surface of the platinum. DiSalvo suggested trying an ordered-intermetallic compound made from platinum and bismuth (PtBi) instead. The initial test results of the new catalyst with formic acid were so promising that both research groups, Abruña’s and DiSalvo’s, worked intently at discovering new intermetallic catalysts.

The catalyst on fuel cell electrodes is where electricity is created as a fuel, such as hydrogen or methanol, and then is oxidized electrochemically.

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The CFCI works closely with several companies with an interest in fuel cells.