New Energies, new possibilities

To address this challenge, the UCLA team has engineered a durable catalyst architecture with a novel design that shields platinum from the degradation typically observed in alloy systems.

The researchers began by embedding ultrafine platinum nanoparticles within protective graphene pockets. Composed of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, graphene is the thinnest known material. Despite its atomic thinness, it is incredibly strong, lightweight and highly conductive. These graphene-encased nanoparticles were then nested inside the porous structure of Ketjenblack, a powdery carbon material. This “particles-within-particles” design provides long-term stability while preserving the high catalytic activity essential for efficient fuel cell performance.

“Heavy-duty fuel cell systems must withstand harsh operating conditions over long periods, making durability a key challenge,” said Huang, who holds the Traugott and Dorothea Frederking Endowed Chair at UCLA Samueli. “Our pure platinum catalyst, enhanced with a graphene-based protection strategy, overcomes the shortcomings of conventional platinum alloys by preventing the leaching of alloying elements. This innovation ensures that the catalyst remains active and robust, even under the demanding conditions typical of long-haul applications.”

The new catalyst exhibited a power loss of less than 1.1% after an accelerated stress test involving 90,000 square-wave voltage cycles designed to simulate years of real-world driving, where even a 10% loss is typically considered excellent. These superior results project fuel cell lifetimes exceeding 200,000 hours, far surpassing the DOE’s target of 30,000 hours for heavy-duty proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems.

By successfully addressing the dual challenges of catalytic activity and durability, UCLA researchers’ innovative catalyst design holds great promise for the adoption of hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles — an essential step toward reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency in a sector that accounts for a substantial share of transportation energy use.

The team’s findings built on its earlier success in developing a fuel cell catalyst for light-duty vehicles that demonstrated a lifespan of 15,000 hours — nearly doubling the DOE’s target of 8,000 hours.

The new study’s lead authors are UCLA Ph.D. graduates Zeyan Liu and Bosi Peng, both advised by Huang, whose research group specializes in developing nanoscale building blocks for complex materials, such as fuel cell catalysts. Xiaofeng Duan, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA, and Xiaoqing Pan, a professor of materials science and engineering at UC Irvine, are also authors on the paper. Huang and Duan are both members of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Other authors on the paper are Yu-Han “Joseph” Tsai and Ao Zhang from UCLA, as well as Mingjie Xu, Wenjie Zang, XingXu Yan and Li Xing from UC Irvine.

UCLA’s Technology Development Group has filed a patent on the technology.

UCLA Breakthrough Extends Fuel Cell Lifespan for Clean Trucking