News

Researchers developed a cost-effective and efficient rival for platinum

Researchers succeeded in creating an electrocatalyst that is needed for storing electric energy made of carbon and iron.

A challenge that comes with the increased use of renewable energy is how to store electric energy.

Platinum has traditionally been used as the electrocatalyst in electrolysers that store electric energy as chemical compounds.

However, platinum is a rare and expensive metal. Now Aalto University researchers have succeeded in developing a substitute to it that is cheap and effective.

"We developed an electrocatalyst that is made of iron and carbon. Now the same efficiency that was achieved with platinum can be obtained with a less expensive material. Nearly 40 per cent of the material costs of energy storage with an electrolyser come from the electrocatalyst", says senior scientist Tanja Kallio.

The findings have just been published in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie on 12.2.2015.

Losses decrease

The manufacturing process has been developed in cooperation with a research group led by Professor Esko Kauppinen from Aalto University School of Science. The carbon nanotube the group developed conducts electricity extremely well and serves as the support, while the now added only single carbon layer covered iron functions as the catalyst. The manufacturing process has a single stage.

In the manufacturing phase, the iron is covered with graphene.

"The method has been altered to make the electro catalyst very active. By active, we refer to the small amount of energy needed to store electric energy as hydrogen. This reduces the losses caused by chemical storage and the process is economically viable."

The research was conducted at the Aalto University School of Chemical Technology in groups led by Professor Kari Laasonen and Senior scientist Tanja Kallio in cooperation with Professor Esko Kauppinen. The research has been funded by the Aalto University AEF Programme (Aalto Energy Efficiency Research Programme).

Link to the article

Further information
Senior scientist Tanja Kallio
[email protected]
tel. +358 50 5637 567

Professor Kari Laasonen
[email protected]
tel. +358 40 5570044

  • Published:
  • Updated:

Read more news

image of a wooden pillar from little finlandia and the text time out
Research & Art Published:

Aalto University shakes up construction practices at the New European Bauhaus Festival in Brussels

The exhibition Time Out! will be on show in Brussels from 9 to 13 April 2024 as part of the NEB Festival.
Two of the awardees and their robotic arm all holding colorful mugs. Aalto Open Science Award, Honorary mention.
Awards and Recognition, Research & Art Published:

Aalto Open Science Award third place awardee 2023 – Intelligent Robotics Research Group with the Robotic Manipulation of Deformable Objects project

We interviewed the Intelligent Robotics Research Group with the Robotic Manipulation of Deformable Objects project, 3rd place awardees of the first Aalto Open Science Award.
Five Aalto University students around a table
Research & Art Published:

Read the Qual+ Newsletter

We are excited to welcome you to the second Qual+ Newsletter and continue bringing you new ways of looking at methods within management studies.
Picture of leaves in water.
Press releases Published:

Graduate Sustainability Competencies and Influence in the Workplace – Aalto University's Latest Research

Aalto University's Meeri Karvinen successfully defends her doctoral dissertation, February 2024.