On Sat, 15 Oct 2022 08:49:18 -0700, Jim Pennino <
jimp@gonzo.specsol.net>
wrote:
Larry Dighera <LDighera@att.net> wrote:
On Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:02:14 +0000, Daniel <me@scifidan.com> wrote:
George Black <gblack@hnpl.net> writes:
I can't imagine this technology working with mass passenger
aircraft. Simply creating a system that won't leak is a struggle in
autos - I can't imagine it working very well.
Here's an interesting scientific fact: Graphene is impermeable to gases.
https://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/learn/applications/membranes/
Too bad no one can make bulk graphene, but any day now, just like
fusion power.
Not that this has anything to do with hydrogen, as graphene is NOT >impermeable to hydrogen.
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/pt.6.1.20200330a/full/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000862232100244X
Thank you for providing the links to the research papers, Jim.
I was unaware of grapheme's experimentally demonstrated H2 permeability.
I wonder if LH2 would exhibit the same grapheme permeability phenomenon?
It would seem that NASA and others are successful in containing LH2:
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/12/4357/pdf
Below is information on other means of generating H2.
=============================================================================== Generate Hydrogen From Water Without Electricity
https://news.ucsc.edu/2022/02/hydrogen-production.html
Easy aluminum nanoparticles for rapid, efficient hydrogen generation from
water
UCSC chemists developed a simple method to make aluminum nanoparticles that split water and generate hydrogen gas rapidly under ambient conditions
February 18, 2022
By Tim Stephens
bubbles-450.jpg
Bubbles of hydrogen gas are generated from the reaction of water with an aluminum-gallium composite. Movies of the reaction are available online. (Credit: Amberchan et al., Applied Nano Materials 2022)
nanoparticles-400.jpg
Scanning electron microscopy of the composite shows aluminum nanoparticles
in a matrix of gallium. (Credit: Amberchan et al., Applied Nano Materials
2022)
Aluminum is a highly reactive metal that can strip oxygen from water
molecules to generate hydrogen gas. Its widespread use in products that get
wet poses no danger because aluminum instantly reacts with air to acquire a coating of aluminum oxide, which blocks further reactions.
For years, researchers have tried to find efficient and cost-effective ways
to use aluminum’s reactivity to generate clean hydrogen fuel. A new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz shows that an easily produced composite of
gallium and aluminum creates aluminum nanoparticles that react rapidly with water at room temperature to yield large amounts of hydrogen. The gallium
was easily recovered for reuse after the reaction, which yields 90% of the hydrogen that could theoretically be produced from reaction of all the
aluminum in the composite.
“We don’t need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy. I’ve
never seen anything like it,” said UCSC Chemistry Professor Scott Oliver.
Oliver and Bakthan Singaram, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, are corresponding authors of a paper on the new findings, published February 14
in Applied Nano Materials.
The reaction of aluminum and gallium with water has been known since the
1970s, and videos of it are easy to find online. It works because gallium, a liquid at just above room temperature, removes the passive aluminum oxide coating, allowing direct contact of aluminum with water. The new study, however, includes several innovations and novel findings that could lead to practical applications.
A U.S. patent application is pending on this technology. The international (PCT) filing on which it was based is linked here.
Singaram said the study grew out of a conversation he had with a student, coauthor Isai Lopez, who had seen some videos and started experimenting with aluminum-gallium hydrogen generation in his home kitchen.
“He wasn’t doing it in a scientific way, so I set him up with a graduate student to do a systematic study. I thought it would make a good senior
thesis for him to measure the hydrogen output from different ratios of
gallium and aluminum,” Singaram said.
Previous studies had mostly used aluminum-rich mixtures of aluminum and gallium, or in some cases more complex alloys. But Singaram’s lab found that hydrogen production increased with a gallium-rich composite. In fact, the
rate of hydrogen production was so unexpectedly high the researchers thought there must be something fundamentally different about this gallium-rich
alloy.
Oliver suggested that the formation of aluminum nanoparticles could account
for the increased hydrogen production, and his lab had the equipment needed
for nanoscale characterization of the alloy. Using scanning electron
microscopy and x-ray diffraction, the researchers showed the formation of aluminum nanoparticles in a 3:1 gallium-aluminum composite, which they found
to be the optimal ratio for hydrogen production.
In this gallium-rich composite, the gallium serves both to dissolve the aluminum oxide coating and to separate the aluminum into nanoparticles. “The gallium separates the nanoparticles and keeps them from aggregating into
larger particles,” Singaram said. “People have struggled to make aluminum nanoparticles, and here we are producing them under normal atmospheric
pressure and room temperature conditions.”
Making the composite required nothing more than simple manual mixing.
“Our method uses a small amount of aluminum, which ensures it all dissolves into the majority gallium as discrete nanoparticles,” Oliver said. “This generates a much larger amount of hydrogen, almost complete compared to the theoretical value based on the amount of aluminum. It also makes gallium recovery easier for reuse.”
The composite can be made with readily available sources of aluminum,
including used foil or cans, and the composite can be stored for long
periods by covering it with cyclohexane to protect it from moisture.
Although gallium is not abundant and is relatively expensive, it can be recovered and reused multiple times without losing effectiveness, Singaram said. It remains to be seen, however, if this process can be scaled up to be practical for commercial hydrogen production.
First author Gabriella Amberchan is graduate student in Singaram’s lab.
Other coauthors of the paper include Beatriz Ehlke, Jeremy Barnett, Neo Bao, and A’Lester Allen, all at UCSC. This work was partially supported by funds from the Ima Hernandez Foundation. ===========================================================================
===========================================================================
https://newatlas.com/energy/direct-air-electrolyzer-hydrogen-humidity/
World's first direct air electrolyzer makes hydrogen from humidity
By Loz Blain
September 14, 2022
Melbourne University researchers have tested a "direct air electrolyzer"
that can pull hydrogen straight out of the air using ambient humidity,
meaning it's possible to create green hydrogen nearly anywhere on the
planet, regardless of fresh water supplies
Melbourne University researchers have tested a "direct air electrolyzer"
that can pull hydrogen straight out of the air using ambient humidity,
meaning it's possible to create green hydrogen nearly anywhere on the
planet, regardless of fresh water supplies
University of Melbourne
View 2 Images
Australian researchers have developed and tested a way to electrolyze
hydrogen straight out of the air, anywhere on Earth, without requiring any other fresh water source. The Direct Air Electrolyzer (DAE) absorbs and converts atmospheric moisture – even down to a "bone-dry" 4% humidity.
Such a machine could be particularly relevant to a country like Australia, which has ambitions as a clean energy exporter, along with enormous solar energy potential – but also widespread drought conditions and limited access
to clean water. Decoupling hydrogen production from the need for a water
supply could allow green hydrogen to be produced more or less anywhere you
can ship it out from – and since water scarcity and solar potential often go hand in hand, this could prove a boon for much of Africa, Asia, India and
the Middle East, too.
Chemical engineers at Melbourne University came up with what they describe
as a simple design: an electrolyzer with two flat plates acting as anode and cathode. Sandwiched between the two plates is a porous material – melamine sponge, for example, or sintered glass foam. This medium is soaked in a hygroscopic ionic solution – a chemical that can absorb moisture from the
air spontaneously.
Hook it up to an energy source, expose it to the air, and hydrogen starts
being released at the cathode, and oxygen at the anode, simple as that. The researchers believe this is the first time hydrogen has been pulled directly from the air, and note that it works down to 4% humidity, where even dry
areas in Australia's Red Centre, such as Alice Springs, tend to have around
20% humidity.
Left: the team ran a small-scale prototype over the course of several days. Right: the simple structure of the electrolyzer
Left: the team ran a small-scale prototype over the course of several days. Right: the simple structure of the electrolyzerUniversity of Melbourne
The researchers tested various different hygroscopic liquids, porous media, thicknesses and other parameters, eventually achieving a faradaic efficiency around 95%. Hooked up to a paperback-sized solar panel, the team found the
DAE was able to generate 3.7 cubic meters(131 cu ft) of high-purity hydrogen per day, per square meter (10.7 sq ft) of cathode.
The team describes the technology as technically and structurally viable,
and low-maintenance, and says the next steps are to test it in a range of
harsh conditions and temperatures, and to scale way up.
"We are in the process to scale up the DAE, from a five-layer stack to one meter square, then 10 meters and so on," says Dr. Kevin Gang Li, lead researcher on the paper. "And we can simulate a dry climate in lab, but
that's not a real desert. So, we want to take it to Alice Springs and spend
a couple of weeks, see how it goes."
The research is open access in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: University of Melbourne
10 comments
Loz Blain
Loz has been one of our most versatile contributors since 2007, and has
since proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer
and podcast engineer, as well as a senior features writer. Joining the team
as a motorcycle specialist, he's covered just about everything for New
Atlas, concentrating lately on eVTOLs, hydrogen, energy, aviation,
audiovisual, weird stuff and things that go fast.
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10 comments
windykites September 14, 2022 01:30 AM
Look at the tube marked Hydrogen collector. Not much in there after several days. This looks like a slow process, with a lot of equipment.
WONKY KLERKY September 14, 2022 02:20 AM
If it works,
If it is introduced on a mass scale in possibly far away geographically isolated arid areas as proposed,
If the H2 is then exported off site to far away places.
Then, wot happens to local water sources, such as are, + local climate at large?
michael_dowling September 14, 2022 06:49 AM
WONKY KLERKY "Then, wot happens to local water sources, such as are, + local climate at large?" It extracts H2 from moisture in the AIR,which will
instantly be replaced by surrounding moisturized air. Atmospheric moisture
is totally unrelated to local water resources.
Robt September 14, 2022 10:39 AM
michael_dowling Presumably the moisture in the air performs some type of function, maybe for plant life, or insects, or who knows what, (I don’t). It might be a good idea to study the possible consequences before simply
removing vast quantities and hoping for the best
TechGazer September 14, 2022 02:15 PM
... and there's no green energy left for it, since everyone is running humidifiers. :-)
en1gma September 14, 2022 06:24 PM
They could couple this with Strategic Element's printable graphene oxide ink which generates electricity from humidity too to be totally independent of electricity supply.
Graeme S September 14, 2022 06:46 PM
Well done Aussie ingenuity, we are a can do type of people.
Ignore the NAY sayers, and encourage the YAH sayers,
Seasherm September 14, 2022 11:25 PM
This looks very interesting like many other attempts to produce hydrogen without too much power. We'll see how it works out when they scale it up and have a sense for the numbers. And, by the way, atmospheric moisture is
almost entirely dependent on local water sources, not including underground. When there is surface water, the humidity above it is higher. However, the amount of water being removed here should have a negligible effect on the humidity in the region.
Treon Verdery September 15, 2022 12:01 PM
The article says they use KOH as the chemical that pulls water out of the
air, a much less corrosive possibility is the cosmetic ingredient NaPCA or KPCA. PCA is an amino acid, suggesting mildness. Also, laser treating the Ni electrode could make it much more chemically active. Laser peening is a
process where a pulsed laser causes a Shockwave that causes titanium to be
15 times harder and strongly corrosion resistant. Think then about using the opposite of laser peening on the Ni foil, that opposite would increase
chemical reactivity and possibly produce more hydrogen
Captain Obvious September 16, 2022 12:04 PM
Great news if you need hydrogen in Alice Springs. ===========================================================================
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