To enhance the oxygen reduction process at the anode of proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells (PEMFCs) used in hydrogen automobiles, costly platinum catalysts are utilized.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology(KIST) announced that a joint research team developed a platinum-gold alloy catalyst for hydrogen peroxide production based on a computer simulation. Hydrogen peroxide selectivity can be increased to 95% by using this catalyst, compared with only 30-40% for a palladium catalyst, which indicates that mostly hydrogen peroxide on the developed Pt-Au catalyst can be produced with a small amount of water.