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The apply of hydrogen every bit a fuel and energy storage medium every bit interested scientists for decades, merely physics isn't on our side. Generating hydrogen from water requires a lot of power and expensive materials, but researchers from Washington State University may have developed a method that could make information technology a viable style to store free energy cheaply and efficiently.

Many of the technologies we look toward as part of a renewable free energy economy are less consequent than traditional means. For example, solar power produces a lot of energy during the 24-hour interval and none at night. It's the same story with wind power — it might provide more ability than needed when it's gusty out, but none on a calm twenty-four hour period. Yous demand some fashion to shop backlog free energy for afterward employ, and bombardment technology comes with its own complications. If y'all can generate hydrogen, it's an extremely efficient mode to store free energy. But pump it into a fuel cell, and y'all go water and energy. In addition to industrial storage, some vehicles could also be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The issue with using hydrogen is that you need a lot of power to split a water molecule (the most common source of hydrogen atoms), and the catalysts needed are expensive. Almost methods use either platinum or ruthenium, and they must be replaced frequently every bit they degrade. As described in a newly published study, the Washington Country team used inexpensive and plentiful nickel and fe to make a water-splitting catalyst.

The team calls its material a "porous nanofoam." It's a bit like a metallic sponge with microscopic holes and tunnels that requite it a very large total expanse. That's key to its ability to catalyze the formation of hydrogen and oxygen from h2o. In testing, the team plant this cloth was even more than effective in generating hydrogen than the more than expensive catalysts made from precious metal. As for stability, the team reports information technology showed no drib in functionality later a 12-hour run time.

Most elements of this procedure are the same nosotros currently use to generate hydrogen, so it'due south conceivable the nanofoam could be substituted for other catalysts at industrial scale with few changes. Nonetheless, the Washington State Academy study only tested the material in a laboratory setting. More enquiry is needed to encounter how the nanofoam catalyst might work at industrial scale. Until then, don't toss your lithium-ion batteries in the trash.