Fill'r up.
Posted on 08/30/2011 6:38:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
A team of USC scientists has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source.
Hydrogen makes a great fuel because of it can easily be converted to electricity hydrogen is that, because it is a gas, it can only be stored in high pressure or cryogenic tanks.
In a vehicle with a tank full of hydrogen, "if you got into a wreck, you'd have a problem," said Travis Williams, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College.
A possible solution is to store hydrogen in a safe chemical form. Earlier this year, Williams and his team figured out a way to release hydrogen from an innocuous chemical material — a nitrogen-boron complex, ammonia borane— that can be stored as a stable solid.
Now the team has developed a catalyst system that releases enough hydrogen from its storage in ammonia borane to make it usable as a fuel source. Moreover, the system is air-stable and re-usable, unlike other systems for hydrogen storage on boron and metal hydrides.
The research was published this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
"Ours is the first game in town for reusable, air stabile ammonia borane dehydrogenation," Williams said, adding that the USC Stevens Institute is in the process of patenting the system. The system is sufficiently lightweight and efficient to have potential fuel applications ranging from motor-driven cycles to small aircraft, he said.
More information: A Robust, Air-Stable, Reusable Ruthenium Catalyst for Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/ja2058154
Abstract:
We describe an efficient homogeneous ruthenium catalyst for the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB).
This catalyst liberates more than 2 equiv of H2 and up to 4.6 system wt % H2 from concentrated AB suspensions under air. Importantly, this catalyst is robust, delivering several cycles of dehydrogenation at high [AB] without loss of catalytic activity, even with exposure to air and water.
They’re called soup beans.
Contrary to algore’s overinflated sense of self, the Trojans of USC had more to do with the creation of the Internet than any politician. This could be yet another Conquest by USC.
Wow. This could be a game changer. Very interesting indeed.
Just add a little baking soda during cooking and you wont have that problem.........
A big battery. Making hydrogen costs energy, doesn’t generate it
I think so...
Novel alloy could produce hydrogen fuel from sunlight
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-alloy-hydrogen-fuel-sunlight.html
I've been seeing stories like this for almost ten years. There's a reason why none are commercialized yet, and they never tell you the downside in these press releases.
bump.
Besides, Metal Hydrides as a storage medium for fuel cells have been around for decades; this seems to be an improvement, but not a new or revolutionary means of storing hydrogen.
Hydrogen is not an energy source, it is an energy storage mechanism.
We still have to figure out a way to make hydrogen to be a fuel.
Still expensive and difficult to extract hydrogen from water. The difficulty and danger of transferring hydrogen will mean that only trained personnel will be allowed to handle and fill the tanks, further driving up the cost. It’s a step towards H2 powered cars, but small step.
Fill'r up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.