A group of MIT engineers has discovered a method for producing hydrogen fuel. An important gas today, it can be used to power engines and fuel cells without generating carbon emissions.
Among the main ingredients: Aluminum, which is present in soda cans, and by combining pure aluminum with seawater, hydrogen is produced through a simple chemical reaction. This reaction, although initially slow, is accelerated by the last ingredient, caffeine.
Development of a reactor that generates hydrogen fuel
In a study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the researchers describe“how the reaction can be accelerated by adding caffeine,” especially its active ingredient, imidazole. Experiments showed that hydrogen was produced more rapidly when pretreated aluminum pellets were placed in filtered seawater accompanied by imidazole. Relative to the two hours required without caffeine, the reaction was completed in only five minutes with its presence.
The team is working on a reactor that could be used in ships and underwater vehicles. This reactor would use recycled aluminum pellets mixed with small amounts of gallium indium and caffeine. By integrating these ingredients with seawater, it would generate hydrogen on demand, eliminating the need to transport large tanks of hydrogen.
According to lead author Aly Kombargi, a PhD student in mechanical engineering at MIT, this technology is ideal for maritime applications due to the constant availability of seawater and the possibility of transporting aluminum instead of hydrogen fuel cells.
The research and sustainability approach
This project is led by Professor Douglas Hart, and he and his team at MIT are looking for some efficient and sustainable methods to produce hydrogen. The use of aluminum, an abundant and stable material, is the focus of their research. The problem is that “aluminum can only react with water in its pure state”. That is, the formation of an oxide layer in contact with air prevents the reaction, which led the team to treat the aluminum with a gallium-indium alloy to maintain its purity.
To achieve this, the researchers created a method to recover gallium indium using ions present in seawater. This finding allowed the alloy to be extracted and reused after the reaction, ensuring a continuous cycle of hydrogen production. Consequently, experiments conducted with filtered seawater from Revere Beach showed consistent results in hydrogen generation, albeit at a slower rate compared to freshwater.
The MIT team has high projections for its hydrogen reactor. On the other hand, they estimate that a reactor with a capacity of 18 kilograms of aluminum pellets could power an underwater glider for 30 days, using seawater to generate hydrogen. And the next challenge would be the adaptation of this technology to land vehicles and, eventually, airplanes, with the possibility of extracting water from ambient humidity to produce hydrogen.
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Source and photo: MIT News
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