Researchers at Stanford University have developed gas diffusion layers with engineered surface roughness within the gas pathway of electrochemical devices that improves catalyst utilization.
Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells often underperform due to high overpotentials caused by sluggish kinetics. Specifically, the Pt-catalyzed oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode renders the energy efficiency well below the thermodynamic limit.
Engineers in Prof. Fritz Prinz's laboratory have developed a low cost, scalable method to fabricate anti-reflective, highly conductive metal silicide nanowires electrodes for photovoltaic cells.