Platinum-antimony tin oxide nanoparticle as cathode catalyst for direct methanol fuel cell

Scopus : "Pt-ATO (Sb/SnO2) nanoparticle is synthesized by the consecutive polyol process to enhance the catalyst activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the presence of methanol. Pt-ATO catalyst exhibits better activity for ORR with and without methanol than Pt black catalyst in a half-cell test"

Solar cells new tin market?

Tin is forecast to replace indium-tin-oxide as an electrode in thin-film solar cells, US-based research firm NanoMarkets said last week. Tin consumption for solar cells is expected to grow tenfold to more than 91 mt in 2016, as tin oxide gradually replaces ITO currently used for electrodes mounted on thin-film solar cells, NanoMarkets said. Yet demand for indium used in the photovoltaic thin-film solar cells is also forecast to grow to 228 mt in 2016, from the current 20 mt, the research company said. Out of the 228 mt, roughly 182 mt is for the light absorber layer of the copper-indium-gallium-selenium, or CIGS thin-film cells, and 39.4 mt for the ITO on other thin-film solar cells such as those using cadmium-tellurium films. The 39.4 mt projection for ITO would be an increase from 13 mt in 2011. No figure was given for 2009.

"The shift away from ITO, in favor of tin oxide, is a net gain for tin consumption because tin oxide uses much more tin," NanoMarkets said. ITO consists of 90% indium. NanoMarkets cited US-based First Solar adopting tin oxide for electrodes on cadmium-tellurium cells as a milestone event that propelled growth. Japan supplies more than 70% of the global ITO demand, which comes to 800-1,000 mt/year. Japanese market sources said cell makers are seeking to shift away from less plentiful metals such as indium, gallium, cobalt, tellurium and molybdenum in favor of base metals such as tin, zinc and nickel. The move to replace ITO with tin oxide in the solar sector is likely to have minimal impact on overall ITO demand, however, over 99% of which is accounted for by flat-panel displays