MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - Researchers at Scotland’s University of Glasgow have made significant progress in the production of hydrogen fuel from water, BBC reported on Thursday.
“The link between the rate of water oxidation and hydrogen production has been overcome, allowing hydrogen to be released from the water 30 times faster than the leading PEME process on a per-milligram-of-catalyst basis,” said Professor Lee Cronin, one of the research team members.
PEME process, based on the use of proton exchange membrane electrolysers, has been the most progressive way to produce hydrogen fuel until recently. However, the process is cost-intensive and time-consuming, as it requires precious metal catalysts, a lot of power and use of special high-pressure containers.
According to the research team, the new technique will be inexpensive, quick and clean. Scientists propose to store hydrogen in a carbon-free liquid, a method that doesn’t require high pressures and low temperatures anymore.
"What you do is just turn on the electricity and you split water and you produce this liquid”, Professor Cronin explains. “When you want to produce the hydrogen, you don't have to add any more electricity. You just pour this over a catalyst and out comes the hydrogen. And it comes out 30 times faster than the equivalent commercial device."
Hydrogen is an alternative eco-friendly fuel, which doesn’t produce harmful emissions and therefore, contributes to the reduction of air pollution. It can be produced from various domestic energy sources and is used to power passenger vehicles and electric devices. The new production method is a great step forward in the development of environment-friendly technologies, as it makes pollution-free hydrogen vehicles more affordable and practical for widespread use.
