Eco Factor: Cost effective way to generate hydrogen using electrolysis of water.
Solar power can never be the primary source of power, unless cost-effective storage solutions are developed. For now solar energy is stored in batteries and ultracapacitors, both of which are expensive ways to store energy. A chemistry professor at MIT, Daniel Norcera, has developed an ingenious and a cost-effective way to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen. Taking a clue from nature, Norcera has tried to imitate the photosynthesis process of plants.
Previous attempts to use solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen have all proved to be too expensive because of the use of expensive electrocatalysts such as platinum. Professor Norcera eliminated expensive electrocatalysts with cheaper metals like cobalt. Cobalt readily dissolves in water and this makes it a poor electrode material. To remedy this, Professor Norcera added dissolved cobalt directly to the solvent and relied on the thin cobalt film that is formed on the electrode.
The device that Professor Norcera is envisioning is an electrolyser with cobalt as the electrocatalyst, which runs on solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen ions. This hydrogen is then fed into a fuel cell that runs everything from your plug-in hybrid to the appliances in your kitchen. Professor Norcera is now planning to extend his research with even better metals in an effort to enhance the electrolyser’s current density.
The Dark Side:
Professor Norcera’s research is being highly criticized. Some fellow researchers believe that he is simply overstating his results, and there are others who say that the current density is far too low for mass production. Moreover, electrolysis is an energy-inefficient process and most of the hydrogen produced during electrolysis is lost.
Via: DailyTech
Comments
Sorry to pop your bubble, but ionic cobalt is very carcinogen, particularly bad for those of us who are at teh top of the food chain.......
Great article,
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Some idiot will drink the water.
If the person is dumb enough to drink the water in the electrolysis tank then they deserve the cancer.
Anyone that drinks the electrolysis water deserve a Darwin award. We need more people to take themselves out of the gene pool through their own stupidity.
Sigh. When I was small, a friend of mine (he’s a year younger than me, probably about 10 years old), drank ”orange juice” from a jar, which was just about to be thrown away by his aunt and was just left with no attention for several minute. Result: his entire stomach was burnt and he’s hospitalized for a month (whatever is inside, it’s definitely acidic).
You know, some adults can be _that_ irresponsible. And yet, the one that got the brunt of it is the kid, not the person who left that freakin’ jar in the open.
The take away from this is the electrode is superior. You also get carcinogens from Stainless steel when electrolyzing water. I agree that the process is inefficient, but the electrode is worth pursuing. Great find, I hope.
It is worth a try on an auto where the alternator spins and uses horse power regardless of it producing power or not. Why not use it to make free (relatively) fuel and dramatically reduce emissions by better fuel combustion at the least?
HHO will help gasoline or diesel to burn cleaner. PERIOD
I don’t have anything to add to the article but about what HHOJOE said when the battery’s full and there’s minimal draw from the electrical system then it shows in the resistance at the alternator. The greater the load on a generator the greater the resistance in the field.