Tag Archives: fuel cells
Researchers at the University of Calgary have reported, in the journal Science, that they have developed a way to make new affordable and efficient catalysts for producing hydrogen and oxygen from water and electricity for storage and subsequent power generation. Current electrolyzer devices use catalysts to drive a chemical reaction that converts electricity into chemical energy by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen fuels. These fuels can then be stored and re-converted to electricity for use whenever wanted. The only byproduct from such a system is water, which can be recycled through the system. However, to date the catalysts have … Continue Reading
The problem with hydrogen fuel cells has been the cost of the platinum required as a catalyst. Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge have found that cobalt can function as an efficient catalyst at room temperature in pH neutral water surrounded by oxygen. Cobalt is relatively abundant and, therefore, inexpensive. Lead author of the research, Dr Erwin Reisner, said that “Our research has shown that inexpensive materials such as cobalt are suitable to fulfil this challenging requirement. Of course, many hurdles such as the rather poor stability of the catalyst remain to be addressed, but our finding provides a … Continue Reading
Engineers at the University of New South Wales have developed a light weight, nano-engineered material that can store and release hydrogen, overcoming a major hurdle to its use as an alternative fuel source. The engineers have synthesised nanoparticles of sodium borohydride and encased these inside nickel shells. The unique "core-shell" nanostructure has remarkable hydrogen storage properties, including the ability to release energy at much lower temperatures than previously observed. Borohydrides were known to be effective storage materials for hydrogen but it was believed that once the energy was released it could not be reabsorbed. However, Dr Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou, lead author … Continue Reading
Israeli company, Emefcy, has developed a microbe-based technology that harvests energy while treating waste water. The process starts with the same principle as most wastewater treatment – water is aerated so that bacteria in the liquid breaks down organic material. But instead of using electricity to push air into the water, Emefcy uses a permeable, polyethylene filter that allows air in but doesn't let liquid out, The polyethylene membrane surrounds a fuel cell chamber into which the waste water flows. Inside the fuel cell, anaerobic bacteria release electrons. The electrons flow to an anode and then to cathodes in a … Continue Reading
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have identified a catalyst that provides the same level of efficiency in microbial fuel cells as the currently used platinum catalyst but at 5% of the cost – the discovery may lead to much more affordable energy conversion and storage devices. In microbial fuel cells, colonies of bacteria feed on organic matter, releasing electrons that create a current as they break down the waste. They can generate electricity while removing organic contaminants from wastewater. The material – nitrogen-enriched iron-carbon nanorods – also has the potential to replace the platinum catalyst used in hydrogen-producing microbial … Continue Reading
Erik Koepf, a doctoral candidate at the University of Delaware, has designed a novel reactor that uses highly concentrated sunlight to produce hydrogen from water. The basic idea is to is to create a small, well-insulated cavity and subject it to highly concentrated sunlight. Zinc oxide powder, fed into the cavity, decomposes into zinc vapour and oxygen. The zinc is extracted and reacted with water to produce hydrogen and zinc oxide, which can be fed back into the reactor. The prototype reactor, which resembles a large cylinder, consists of layers of advanced, ultra-high temperature insulation and ceramic materials. The reactor … Continue Reading
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed an efficient two-step process that electrolyzes hydrogen atoms from water molecules before combining them to make molecular hydrogen. Hydrogen has huge potential applications, especialy in fuel cells, and, even now, approximately 2% of all electric power generated in the United States is dedicated to the production of molecular hydrogen. Currently, most hydrogen is extracted from natural gas – a process that uses a great deal of energy and produces large carbon dioxide emissions. To date, most experiments in extracting hydrogen from water by electrolysis have relied on special … Continue Reading
Scientists at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science in Taiwan have reported that a carbon-based catalyst loaded with vitamin B12 showed promise as a low-cost alternative to platinum in fuel cells. In order to generate electricity, hydrogen fuel cells require an oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode together with an oxidiztation reaction (producing water) at the anode. Oxygen reduction reactions are slow and need a catalyst to speed them up. The most effective catalyst is platinum, which is very expensive. The researchers in Taiwan have dispensed with the need for platinum altogether, by using cheap carbon that has vitamin … Continue Reading
Researchers at the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville have determined that an inexpensive semiconductor alloy can be "tweaked" to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight. The team has demonstrated that an alloy formed by a 2% substitution of antimony in gallium nitride has the right electrical properties to enable solar light to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. When the alloy is immersed in water and exposed to sunlight, the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in water is broken and the hydrogen can be collected. Gallium nitride is a semiconductor that is in widespread use to … Continue Reading
A new catalyst, developed at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, could represent a substantial milestone on the way to cheap, durable, light and environmentally friendly fuel cells. Currently, the best fuel cells are powered by hydrogen. The biggest obstacle to the wide use of hydrogen fuel cells is the difficulty of storing the hydrogen. An alternative is direct formic acid fuel cells. These convert formic acid and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water to produce energy. The formic acid oxiation occurs at the anode on a catalyst layer. The reactions occur at … Continue Reading
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Renewables News- Vic Council Approves Wind Farm with Community SharesBuloke Shire has approved a planning permit for a five-turbine wind farm spanning 5.t hectares at Coonooer Bridge, west of Bendigo..It is the first wind farm planning permit approved since 2011 when the Victorian Government introduced tough planning laws that … Continue Reading → […]
- NZ Electricity Co Offers Solar PV with BatteryVector Limited, the largest electricity and gas distribution company in New Zealand, is offerring a "home solar power solution", incorporating intelligent battery storage into a traditional solar PV system. In the introductory phase of the programme, a limited number of … Continue Reading → […]
- Sydney City Revises Trigen Power PlanThe City of Sydney has decided not to pursue its plan for a trigeneation power precinct at Green Square at this time but has re-affirmed its commitment to cutting carbon emissions using trigeneration, among other technologies, The decision to halt … Continue Reading → […]
- Vic Council Approves Wind Farm with Community Shares
