Analysis of Nickel Pincer Catalyst for Hydrogen Production
Abstract
Fuel cells have great potential as an alternative fuel source; however the
hydrogen to power the cells is rather costly to produce. A study by Luca et. al were
investigating a nickel pincer catalyst instead of platinum because it could be a cheaper
alternative for hydrogen production. Density Functional Theory was used to propose a
catalytic cycle that was then investigated experimentally with cyclic voltammetry. Cyclic
Voltammetry was also used to analyze the effects different ligands had on the catalytic
cycle. The nickel pincer catalyst had a 90-95% faradaic yield. The efficiency of the
nickel catalyst was high because there was little energy that was lost as heat or
byproducts. The researchers concluded that the nickel pincer catalyst had potential to
reduce the cost of hydrogen fuel cells. There is a possibility that some hazardous
byproducts were made and the byproducts should be studied further along with ways to
reduce the byproducts.