| The Powerhouse Hydrogen Fuel Cell |
|
| Written by Suzann Kale | |
|
It will shake up the world of fuel storage and batteries, and change our lives. A hydrogen-powered car is already in the works. And now we're just five years away from a smaller hydrogen fuel cell that could out-perform batteries, fit into laptops and other small devices, work without creating toxic by-products, and recharge without hassle.
This new hydrogen fuel cell was revealed by its creators Don Gervasio and Sonja Tasic at the recent American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco. Both chemists are from Arizona State University.
Using a 15% solution of borohydride in water, with a small amount of antifreeze to keep the boron from becoming insoluble as boron oxide, Gervasio and Tasic have already developed a fuel cell that is more powerful than the best battery.
Here are the basics: Borohydride1 is made to flow over ruthenium2, and that releases the hydrogen. The hydrogen then combines with oxygen inside the fuel cell. This generates electricity. The main waste products? Water and inert salts.
Although the 15% borohydride solution already outperforms batteries, Gervasio and Tasic want to get the borohydride solution up to 30%. This could create four to six times more power than any comparably sized battery. The fuel cell will be light-weight, safe, and, the chemists hope, reasonably priced.
Critics say that a hydrogen economy is expensive and inefficient due to the use of electricity in some of the processes involved with obtaining hydrogen directly from water. However, when the hydrogen is produced by solar energy, as SHEC labs is doing, that efficiency problem is greatly mitigated.
∞
Dec.17, 2006
1 Borohydride (sodium borohydride: NaBH4) was discovered by H.I. Schlessinger in the 1940s. It's less flammable than gasoline when used as a fuel. According to Rohm and Haas, a synthesis technology company, borohydride is relatively inexpensive and safe, requires less investment in equipment when using it in industrial applications, and is environmentally green (the solvents usually used on borohydride in manufacturing are water and methanol).
2 Ruthenium (RU) was discovered by Karl Klaus in the 1840s. A member of the platinum family, ruthenium is commonly used as an alloy to harden platinum and palladium. RU also improves resistance to corrosion, making it an important part of electrical contacts. And because it absorbs light, RU is being tested as a component in solar energy devices.
 |
| < Prev |
|---|