突破将燃料电池寿命延长至20万小时以上，为清洁长途卡车运输铺平道路

For trucks and heavy-duty vehicles that must travel long distances without frequent, time-consuming charging stops, batteries often fall short. Hydrogen fuel cells -- which can be refueled as quickly as traditional gasoline -- offer a cleaner, more efficient alternative.
对于必须长途行驶且无法频繁进行耗时充电的卡车和重型车辆来说，电池往往力不从心。氢燃料电池——与传统Gas一样可快速补充燃料——提供了一种更清洁、更高效的替代方案。

Now, researchers at UCLA have made a breakthrough that could dramatically extend the lifespan of these fuel cells, making them a more viable clean energy source that can help bring sustainable, long-haul trucking closer to reality.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的研究人员取得了一项突破性进展，这项成果可能大幅延长这些燃料电池的寿命，使其成为更可行的清洁能源，助力可持续长途卡车运输更快成为现实。

Led by Yu Huang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, the research team has developed a new catalyst design capable of pushing the projected fuel cell catalyst lifespans to 200,000 hours, which is nearly seven times the U.S. Department of Energy's target for 2050. Published in Nature Nanotechnology, the research marks a significant step toward the widespread adoption of fuel cell technology in heavy-duty vehicles, such as long-haul tractor trailers.
由加州大学洛杉矶分校Samueli工程学院材料科学与工程教授Yu Huang领导的研究团队开发了一种新型催化剂设计，能够将燃料电池催化剂的预计寿命延长至200,000小时，这几乎是美国能源部2050年目标的七倍。这项发表在《Nature Nanotechnology》上的研究标志着燃料电池技术在重型车辆（如长途牵引拖车）中广泛应用的重要一步。

Although medium- and heavy-duty trucks make up only about 5% of vehicles on the road, they are responsible for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas automobile emissions, according to federal estimates. This makes heavy-duty applications an ideal entry point for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell technology.
尽管中型和重型卡车仅占道路车辆的5%左右，但根据联邦估算，它们排放的温室气体占汽车总排放量的近四分之一。这使得重型应用成为聚合物电解质膜燃料电池技术的理想切入点。

Because fuel cells are significantly lighter than batteries, they require less energy to move the vehicles. With a projected power output of 1.08 watts per square centimeter, fuel cells featuring the new catalyst can deliver the same performance as conventional batteries that weigh up to eight times more. This difference is especially relevant for heavy-duty vehicles, which not only carry substantial cargo but also tend to be much heavier than standard vehicles. In addition, building a national hydrogen-refueling infrastructure would likely require less investment than establishing an electric vehicle-charging network across the country.
由于燃料电池比电池轻得多，移动车辆所需的能量也更少。预计功率输出为1.08瓦/平方厘米的采用新型催化剂的燃料电池，其性能可与重量高达其八倍的传统电池相媲美。这一差异对重型车辆尤为重要，因为它们不仅载货量大，而且往往比标准车辆重得多。此外，建设全国性的氢燃料补给基础设施所需的投资可能少于在全国范围内建立电动汽车充电网络。

Fuel cells work by converting the chemical energy stored in hydrogen into electricity, emitting only water vapor as a byproduct. This has made them a promising solution for cleaner transportation. However, the slow chemical reaction for the energy conversion has been a challenge, requiring a catalyst to achieve practical speeds.
燃料电池通过将储存在氢气中的化学能转化为电能来工作，仅排放水蒸气作为副产品。这使其成为清洁交通领域的一个有前景的解决方案。然而，能量转换过程中的化学反应速度缓慢一直是个挑战，需要催化剂才能达到实用速度。

While platinum-alloy catalysts have historically delivered superior chemical reaction, the alloying elements leach out over time, diminishing catalytic performance. The degradation is further accelerated by the demanding voltage cycles required to power heavy-duty vehicles.
虽然铂合金催化剂历来能实现优异的化学反应，但合金元素会随时间推移而析出，导致催化性能下降。而重型车辆所需的高强度电压循环会进一步加速这种性能衰退。

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.
为应对这一挑战，加州大学洛杉矶分校团队设计了一种采用新颖结构的耐用催化剂架构，该设计能保护铂免受合金系统中常见的降解影响。

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.
研究人员首先将超细铂纳米颗粒嵌入保护性石墨烯袋中。石墨烯由单层碳原子以二维蜂窝状晶格排列构成，是已知最薄的材料。尽管只有原子级厚度，它却异常坚固、轻质且具有高导电性。这些包裹石墨烯的纳米颗粒随后被嵌套在Ketjenblack（一种粉状碳材料）的多孔结构中。这种“粒子套粒子”的设计在保持高效燃料电池性能所需的高催化活性的同时，提供了长期稳定性。

"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."
"重型燃料电池系统必须长期承受恶劣的运行条件，这使得耐久性成为关键挑战，"担任UCLA Samueli学院Traugott and Dorothea Frederking讲席教授的黄表示。"我们采用石墨烯基保护策略增强的纯铂催化剂，通过防止合金元素浸出，克服了传统铂合金的缺点。这一创新确保催化剂在长途应用典型的高要求条件下仍保持活性和稳健性。"

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.
新型催化剂在经历了9万次方波电压循环的加速压力测试后，功率损耗低于1.1%。该测试旨在模拟多年实际驾驶情况，而通常即使10%的损耗也被认为非常出色。这些优异结果表明燃料电池寿命可超过20万小时，远超美国能源部对重型质子交换膜燃料电池系统设定的3万小时目标。

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.
通过成功解决催化活性和耐久性这两大挑战，加州大学洛杉矶分校研究人员的创新催化剂设计为氢动力重型车辆的采用带来了巨大希望——这是在一个占交通能源使用很大比重的领域减少排放和提高燃料效率的关键一步。

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.
该团队的发现基于其早期在开发轻型车燃料电池催化剂方面的成功，该催化剂的寿命达到了15,000小时——几乎是美国能源部8,000小时目标的两倍。

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.
这项新研究的主要作者是加州大学洛杉矶分校的博士毕业生刘泽岩（Zeyan Liu）和彭博思（Bosi Peng），他们都由黄教授指导。黄教授的研究小组专门开发用于复杂材料（如燃料电池催化剂）的纳米级构建区块。加州大学洛杉矶分校化学与生物化学教授Xiaofeng Duan和加州大学欧文分校材料科学与工程教授Xiaoqing Pan也是该论文的作者。黄教授和Duan教授都是加州大学洛杉矶分校加州纳米系统研究所的成员。

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.
论文的其他作者包括来自UCLA的Yu-Han "Joseph" Tsai和Ao Zhang，以及来自UC Irvine的Mingjie Xu、Wenjie Zang、XingXu Yan和Li Xing。

UCLA's Technology Development Group has filed a patent on the technology.
UCLA的Technology Development Group已就该技术申请了专利。