Small but mighty
If I learned anything from reading Horton Hears a Who to my kids, it's that things as small as a speck of dust can be very important. Yangchaun "Chad" Xing's research proves it.
Xing has been working to develop an efficient polymer electrolyte membrane (or PEM) fuel cell using a new material called carbon nanotubes, which is more durable than carbon black (the traditional material used). Xing, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, along with Guoqiang Ren, a Ph.D. student at UMR, have developed a new, "fast evaporation" technique for depositing metal nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. Their findings are in the November issue of the Institute of Physics Publishing journal, Nanotechnology.
Other deposition techniques, such as electrochemical deposition, are often limited by the surface state of the carbon nanotubes and have problems with uniformity and density. The new technique can create uniform distributions and is able to deposit nanoparticles on a large scale. In addition, the nanoparticle size and number density on the carbon nanotubes can be independently controlled, opening ways to obtain property-tailored nanocatalysts.
In the future, PEM fuel cells may be used in a residential setting, providing power to homes through either stationary in-house fuel cells that operate like big batteries, or through larger power station-sized cells that could power an entire city. Or they may power our cars and trucks, leaving behind nothing but clean, potable water. If that happens, Dr. Seuss may be right. Our whole world might be "saved by the smallest of all."