"I don't think the term,
'human resources' is
degrading. Our last boss
classified us as
'perishable supplies'."
Posted on 12/01/2006 7:04:15 AM PST by ConservativeMind
Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood to engineer a molecular complex that uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, says research published today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
This molecular complex can use energy from the sun to create hydrogen gas, providing an alternative to electrolysis, the method typically used to split water into its constituent parts. The breakthrough may pave the way for the development of novel ways of creating hydrogen gas for use as fuel in the future.
Professors Tsuchida and Komatsu from Waseda University, Japan, in collaboration with Imperial College London, synthesised a large molecular complex from albumin, a protein molecule that is found at high levels in blood serum, and porphyrin, a molecule which is used to carry oxygen around the body and gives blood its deep red colour. Porphyrin molecules are normally found combined with metals, and in their natural state in the blood they have an iron atom at their centre. The scientists modified the porphyrin molecule to swap the iron for a zinc atom in the middle, which completely changed the chemistry and characteristics of the molecule.
This modified porphyrin molecule was then combined with albumin; with the albumin molecule itself being modified by genetic engineering to enhance the efficiency of the process. The resulting molecular complex was proven to be sensitive to light, and can capture light energy in a way that allows water molecules to be split into molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.
Dr Stephen Curry, a structural biologist from Imperial College London's Division of Cell and Molecular Biology who participated in the research explains: "This work has shown that it is possible to manipulate molecules and proteins that occur naturally in the human body by changing one small detail of their make-up, such as the type of metal at the heart of a porphyrin molecule, as we did in this study.
"It's very exciting to prove that we can use these biological structures as a conduit to harness solar energy to separate water out into hydrogen and oxygen. In the long term, these synthetic molecules may provide a more environmentally friendly way of producing hydrogen, which can be used as a 'green' fuel."
If your combustion is of pure Hydrogen and pure Oxygen, then yes. But more likely you will burn hydrogen in the presence of other gas naturally occurring in our atmosphere, which will include carbon dioxide for example.
To be clear, even burning Hydrogen with "regular air" is going to yield water (water vapor), but it will not be the only thing coming out of the exhaust pipe. Even Gasoline engine exhaust contains some water vapor.
What happens to the excess Oxygen? If we're producing Hydrogen in megaton bulks, the O has to go someplace. It's all about the O.
"I don't think the term,
'human resources' is
degrading. Our last boss
classified us as
'perishable supplies'."
??
What qualifies as heat? Are there cold sparks? I can light gasoline when its 20 below, but I can't do it without a spark that has a much higher temperature?
Maybe I'm out of my element here, but does't a spark have to be hot?
They have the E Coli bacteria down cold. They MIGHT be able to hack a gene sequence into the bacteria itself and grow it into culture.
It would fill with Hydrogen. We'd then get a bunch together and launch at night with a flaming string and "pow". Very pretty mini-Hindenburgs.
That's an awesome trick ... I'll have to try that one day.
I was just having fun. ;)
I saw a show on PBS in the mid 90's (when I had TV) that covered the whole hydrogen thing. It talked about the exhaust and storage and refilling the tank and stuff like that.
One of the more interesting things described was a type of "rock" they would put in the fuel tank that would absorb the hydrogen but release it so slow that if the tank was ruptured and ignited, the hole would be like a blow torch instead of the tank merely exploding.
They shot two tanks with a rifle - one with the "rocks" and one without. The one with rocks just shot flame out of the hole. The one without rocks exploded.
But I digress.
We used the "generic" drain cleaner which was the raw chemical. I don't know if you can even get it today. I've even forgotten what it was called. Lye?
Also, if we used the same bottle too many times, the heat broke the bottle. I suppose a modern two liter bottle is out of the question. :)
After the spark, heat is generated. It is still an output after the reaction is started. It is not required to begin the reaction. Heat is immediately generated along with the exhaust, but just like exhaust is not required to start the reaction, neither is heat.
I printed that article to read tonight. Thank you for the brief expalination and link.
Here is a better site with a little experiment you can do at home if you want to make your own hydrogen and oxygen.
http://media.nasaexplores.com/lessons/01-009/9-12_1.pdf
"This could be the start of cheap hydrogen for all. No electrolysis needed."
If this was truly a major discovery and a source for cheap hydrogen fuel we can assume that it would have been automatically suppressed and the information classified.
If its out in the public domain we can assume that it is not a cost effective way to produce hydrogen.
Does anyone seriously believe that the oil companies would actually allow something like this to become public?
Yes, I do. The Pogue carburetor patent wasn't bought by the oil companies, either.
--Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood to engineer a molecular complex that uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen--
Count Dracula must be involved, somehow.
"Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood..."
Next Up: "AIDS infected autos."
WOW!
:)
Heat is not a catalyst. "Heat" is a measure of the translational and vibrational / rotational energy of the molecules involved.
A catalyst is an element or substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction but which is not itself consumed by the reaction.
Think of the catalytic converters in your car's exhaust stream-palladium or similar metal provides a surface on which elements of the exhaust land and then react in a way that they wouldn't be able to do as well when "flying free" so to speak.
Cheers!
I'll accept that, I seem to remember the definition of "catalyst" now, but doesn't a spark qualify as heat? Isn't a spark exciting the molecules, albiet in a very small area?
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