Creating longer-lasting fuel cells
Fuel cells could someday generate electricity for nearly any device that’s battery-powered, including automobiles, laptops and cellphones. An engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new way to take a look inside these fuel cells, in an effort to extend their lifespans.
Chemistry with sunlight
Kevin Moeller, PhD, professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is working to find ways to use clean energy in clean chemistry. “We can make the oxidation reactions used in the synthesis of organic molecules cleaner by hitching photovoltaics to electrochemistry,” Moeller says. It’s not a new idea, but one Moeller and his colleagues hope catches on.