Fuel cells are attracting interest as an alternative energy storage technology in a variety of applications, from electric vehicles to powering datacenters, yet they can be costly as they use expensive material., Japan, claim to have discovered that adding caffeine can boost their efficiency, reducing the amount of platinum required and thus making them less expensive.
To maintain efficient operation, fuel cells require a high Pt loading , which significantly ups the costs of fuel cells. A quick look online found market prices for platinum of $29.98 per gram, or $932.61 per ounce, at the time of writing. Chiba University's work was led by Professor Nagahiro Hoshi at the Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology. He explained that the researchers found a notable improvement in the electrode's ORR activity with an increase in caffeine concentration in the electrolyte.