Although the costs of fuel cells have dropped, some metals used still add to the fuel cell bill. This is the case of platinum, a rare metal used as a catalyst that costs as much as gold. It is not found everywhere on the planet: mainly in Russia and South Africa. Teams of researchers are therefore working to reduce the amount of platinum used, or even find a less expensive substitute, such as iron-based catalysts.
Can the generalization of fuel cells further increase the price of Platinum?
Do you think this problem could cause a (new) interruption in the development of fuel cells?
The Pt cost is the key challenge facing the commercialization of the low-temperature fuel cells. The Pt catalyst alone counts to 50% of the fuel cell stack. This is not the only problem of Pt but also it is very susceptible to CO poisoning which makes the catalyst active for a short while as CO potentially exists as impurity in the H2 stream or as a product in case of oxdising some liquid alcohol such as methanol.
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