The supply of nonrenewable resources can’t stand up to their demand much longer. As scientists are frantically trying to find a feasible, sustainable renewable resource to fall back on, the possibility of using Hydrogen as a daily fuel can’t be overlooked. The packaging and storage of Hydrogen poses some significant problems, but it is nothing in the face of its theoretical efficiency. Not to mention, we need just water as a starting product to produce it.
While researchers at Monash University in Melbourne claim to have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen at a world-record 22 percent efficiency, its practical efficiency achievement continues to progress over the years.
Splitting of water has by far been the most popular and preferred method of production of Hydrogen, as of date. That being said, the net output has been quite low to be of any commercial use, input costs would go up to ramp up the output. In this situation, we have to look for ways to tweak the instruments and other factors involved in the process, to optimise the output. Solar power is the best choice to make the input costs nearly zilch.
“Electrochemical splitting of water could provide a cheap, clean and renewable source of hydrogen as the ultimately sustainable fuel.” said Professor Leone Spiccia, lead in the research, from the School of Chemistry at Monash. “This latest breakthrough is significant in that it takes us one step further towards this becoming a reality.”
To help achieve the required solar-input efficiencies, the very best commercial-grade multi-junction (indium gallium phosphide, gallium arsenide, and germanium) solar cells available must be employed in the process to ensure the maximum sunlight to electricity conversion. Expanded foam Nickel electrodes, increased the surface area and only local river water and pH buffer solution sufficed to bring about the reaction.
In short, high-yield electrodes and high-efficiency cells seem to be the tweaks resulting in this record-breaking 22% goal. Soon, hydrogen might be abundant and its production could become cheap enough to consider as an alternate fuel.
“Hydrogen can be used to generate electricity directly in fuel cells,” said Professor Doug MacFarlane, ARC Laureate Fellow and leader of the Energy Program of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at Monash. “Cars driven by fuel cell electric engines are becoming available from a number of car manufacturers. Hydrogen could even be used as an inexpensive energy storage technology at the household level to store energy from roof-top solar cells.”
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Author:Technology Blog
