Pacific Fuel Cell Corp. (PFCE, Tustin, CA) announced that a research team headed by Professor Yushan Yan of the University of California at Riverside, under a contract with Pacific Fuel Cell, has successfully developed a fuel cell using carbon nanotube-based electrodes. Pacific Fuel Cell expects that the use of multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a platinum support for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells will reduce the manufacturing cost of fuel cells through an increased utilization of platinum.
Pacific Fuel Cell has signed a contract with UC Riverside to do research and build a fuel cell prototype based upon Pacific Fuel Cell's proprietary carbon nano-technology. UC Riverside's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering features a research team of 25 faculty members from engineering, cell biology and neuroscience, chemistry, and physics. In addition, the University's Center for Environmental Research and Technology serves as a model for partnerships among industry, government and academia for environmental education, collaboration with industry and government to improve the technical basis for regulations and policy and as a creative source of new technology.
