The rapid expansion of data centers across the United States is creating an urgent demand for reliable, efficient electricity. Facilities that run artificial intelligence systems, cloud services and digital infrastructure require enormous amounts of power not only to operate their computers but also to cool them. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could consume as much as 9% of total U.S. electricity generation by 2030, compared with approximately 4% of the nation’s electrical load in 2023. A new advance in fuel-cell catalyst design could help provide a cleaner, more efficient way to meet part of that demand.
Researchers led by Gang Wu, the Elvera and William R. Stuckenberg Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, have developed a nanostructured carbon support that enables the production of highly durable, high-performance platinum-cobalt catalysts. The material consists of hollow carbon spheres containing ordered nanochannels that extend outward in a radial pattern. These channels act as a precisely engineered framework for stabilizing tiny metallic particles during the extreme heat needed to create an ordered intermetallic structure.
Fuel cells generate electricity through electrochemical reactions rather than combustion. In a hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen is oxidized at the anode, while oxygen is reduced at the cathode. The reactions produce electricity, water and heat, but they rely on catalysts to accelerate the chemical processes and reduce energy losses. Platinum is exceptionally effective for these reactions, especially the oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode, but it is expensive, scarce and vulnerable to gradual degradation during operation. The central challenge is therefore to maximize platinum’s activity while using as little of the precious metal as possible.
Reducing platinum to nanoparticles increases the amount of surface area available for chemical reactions. Fuel-cell electrodes can achieve high catalytic performance with platinum loadings of less than one-quarter of a milligram per square centimeter. However, the small particles can dissolve, migrate across the electrode or merge into larger particles under operating conditions. This process, known as coarsening or agglomeration, reduces the active surface area and progressively lowers fuel-cell performance. A catalyst that is highly active at the beginning of its life may therefore lose much of its effectiveness after extended use.
Platinum intermetallic compounds, in which platinum atoms combine with another metal in a highly ordered crystal arrangement, offer a promising solution. Platinum-cobalt materials can display improved catalytic activity and greater resistance to degradation compared with conventional platinum alloys. Creating the desired ordered structure generally requires annealing at temperatures below about 700 degrees Celsius to prevent nanoparticles from growing too large. Yet those temperatures may be insufficient to complete the order-disorder transition required to achieve the most favorable atomic arrangement. Higher temperatures improve ordering but typically cause nanoparticles to merge, creating the classic conflict between activity and stability.
Wu’s team addressed this problem by designing carbon spheres with hollow interiors, high surface areas and radial nanochannels whose dimensions and pore volumes can be carefully controlled. The channels provide physical confinement for the platinum-cobalt particles, keeping them separated while allowing the material to withstand much higher processing temperatures. Using this support, the researchers heated the catalyst to 1,000 degrees Celsius, a temperature high enough to produce a strongly ordered intermetallic phase while maintaining particle sizes below 5 nanometers.
The result is a catalyst that combines the advantages of very small particles with the stability of a highly organized atomic structure. The carbon framework holds the platinum-cobalt nanoparticles in place and prevents them from undergoing severe growth during high-temperature treatment. At the same time, the open pore network exposes the catalyst to reactants and creates pathways through which protons, oxygen and water can move within the electrode. This transport architecture is particularly important because fuel-cell performance depends not only on the intrinsic activity of the catalyst but also on how efficiently gases, ions and liquid water reach the reaction sites.
The researchers reported that the catalyst retained approximately 85% of its initial performance after 150,000 voltage cycles, a demanding durability test that may correspond to roughly 25,000 hours of operation. The combination of ordered intermetallic nanoparticles, high platinum utilization and accessible carbon channels produced what the team described as best-in-class activity and durability. The architecture also permits the ionomer, the proton-conducting material used in fuel-cell electrodes, to distribute more evenly throughout the porous structure. Better ionomer placement can reduce transport barriers and help maintain electrochemical activity during prolonged use.
The technology could eventually support fuel cells for stationary power, including electricity generation at data centers, as well as transportation and other applications requiring efficient energy conversion. Fuel cells can convert hydrogen and other fuels directly into electricity, potentially reducing pressure on electrical grids when paired with low-carbon hydrogen or renewable fuels. The researchers emphasize that further development, scale-up and industrial collaboration will be necessary before the catalyst can be deployed commercially. Wu has filed a patent through the Washington University Office of Technology Management. The study, conducted with collaborators from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Northeastern University and the University of Pittsburgh, was published in Nature Nanotechnology on Aug. 6, 2026.
Subject of Research: High-performance platinum-cobalt intermetallic nanoparticle catalysts supported by radial nanochannel-array carbon for durable fuel cells.
Article Title: Radial nanochannel-array carbon enables high-performance intermetallic fuel cell catalysts.
News Publication Date: 6-Aug-2026
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-026-02244-8; https://engineering.washu.edu/faculty/Gang-Wu.html
References: Gao L, Hwang S, Li X, Zheng J, Lee K, Liu S, Wierzbicki D, Li J, Guo J, Zhang B, Lin H, Zhao Q, Wang G, Dun C, Wu G. “Radial nanochannel-array carbon enables high-performance intermetallic fuel cell catalysts.” Nature Nanotechnology, Aug. 6, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41565-026-02244-8.
Image Credits: Wu lab, Washington University in St. Louis.
Keywords
Fuel cells, hydrogen energy, platinum catalysts, platinum-cobalt nanoparticles, intermetallic catalysts, nanocarbon, radial nanochannels, carbon supports, clean energy, data centers, renewable energy, electrochemistry, catalyst durability, fuel-cell technology.
