Nisshinbo develops platinum-free catalyst - paper

TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - Japanese cotton spinning firm Nisshinbo Industries Inc (3105.T) has developed a technology to use carbon instead of platinum as the electrode catalyst for fuel cells, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper reported on Saturday.

Nisshinbo hopes to put the new catalyst, developed together with the Tokyo Institute of Technology, to practical use in fiscal 2009, and plans commercialising a product for the electrodes of residential fuel cells, the financial daily said.

The company then plans to develop and commercialise a product for automotive fuel cells, the newspaper said.

The technology will help reduce the cost of adopting fuel cells for homes and cars.

The newspaper said that 10 times more carbon is required than platinum for practical use as a fuel cell catalyst, but the cost is just a tenth of using platinum XPT=, which is now used as the catalyst.

High demand and unstable supply from main producer South Africa have driven platinum prices sharply higher. (Editing by Kim Coghill)