Rice University scientists find possible replacement for platinum as catalyst

With the discovery, the material that the researchers call "metal oxide-laser induced graphene" (MO-LIG) becomes a new candidate to replace expensive metals like platinum in catalytic fuel-cell applications in which oxygen and hydrogen are converted to water and electricity.

"The wonderful thing about this process is that we can use commercial polymers, with simple inexpensive metal salts added," Tour said. "We then subject them to the commercial laser scriber, which generates metal nanoparticles embedded in graphene. So much of the chemistry is done by the laser, which generates graphene in the open air at room temperature.

"These composites, which have less than 1 percent metal, respond as 'super catalysts' for fuel-cell applications. Other methods to do this take far more steps and require expensive metals and expensive carbon precursors."

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