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Diamonds Are a Fuel Cell's Best Friend

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the pretty-much-have-to dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at UC Davis have used nanocrystals made of diamond-like cubic zirconia to develop cooler fuel cells. Even if hydrogen fuel cells have been touted as clean energy sources, current fuel cells have to run at high temperatures of up to 1,000 C. This new technology will allow fuel cells to run at much lower temperatures, between 50 and 100 C. Obviously, this could lead to a widespread use of fuel cells, which could become a realistic alternative power source for vehicles. The researchers have applied for a patent for their technology, but don't tell when fuel cells based on their work are about to appear."

6 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now my girlfriend will be begging for a new car in stead of a ring, thnx alot..

    1. Re:great by Selfbain · · Score: 5, Funny

      And a divorce when she discovers they're cubic zirconias.

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      Well, it has never been successfully tested.
    2. Re:great by ttapper04 · · Score: 5, Funny

      First post on slashdot... girlfriend.... Who are you trying to fool?

  2. CZ = C * 1.4 by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Informative

    As apparently no one bothered to read even the summary, let me be the first to say there is NO DIAMOND in this solution, real or artificial...It's cubic zirconium, which is a sparkly gem that is often used to simulate diamond, but has neither diamond's chemical makeup, nor its hardness.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  3. Re:Uh-oh by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's the other way around actually...CZs are thermal insulators, so they reduce the rate of heat transfer...That's probably one of the key reasons they're being used in this application.

    Diamonds, on the other hand, are extremely efficient thermal conductors, so they are quite efficient at heat transfer, making them terribly unsuitable to this sort of application where heat is already the major problem.

    So CZ is cheaper, easier to obtain, and (for once) actually has the chemical advantage over the diamond. Cool indeed.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  4. Re:Your fuel cell is going to be pissed... by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No, no they're not. CZ is almost twice as heavy by volume. CZ has a substantially different refractive index...Set C and CZ next to each other and examine, and the difference should be clear to even a half-trained eye. CZ doesn't conduct heat well and C does very well. And finally, C will scratch CZ, but CZ will not scratch C.

    They may have been hard to tell apart 200 years ago (doubtful), but there is no way a competent gemologist could make that mistake today.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.