Hydrogen fuel promises to be a clean and abundant source of energy in the future – as long as scientists can figure out ways to produce it practically and cheaply, and without fossil fuels.
techniques, the researchers were able to find the best mix of aluminum and gallium for producing hydrogen with the greatest efficiency: a 3:1 gallium-aluminum composite.
The gallium-rich alloy does double duty in both removing aluminum's oxide coating and in producing the aluminum nanoparticles that enable faster reactions.says Bakthan Singaram"People have struggled to make aluminum nanoparticles, and here we are producing them under normal atmospheric pressure and room temperature conditions."
The mixing method isn't complicated, the researchers report, and the composite material can be stored for at least three months when submerged inAluminum is easier to get hold of than gallium as it can be sourced from post-consumer materials, such as discarded aluminum cans and foil. Gallium is more expensive and less abundant, but in this process at least it can be recovered and reused many times over without losing its effectiveness.
There is still work to do, not least in making sure this can be scaled up from a lab set-up to something that can be used on an industrial scale.
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