Using
a natural catalyst from bacteria for inspiration, researchers have now reported
the fastest synthetic catalysts to date for hydrogen production-- producing 45
million hydrogen molecules per second.
The
chemical bonds in hydrogen gas, for example, could power fuel cells, internal
combustion engines, or generators. Using a natural catalyst from bacteria for
inspiration, researchers have now developed the fastest synthetic catalyst for
hydrogen production -- producing 45 million molecules per second. Instead of a
costly metal, this catalyst uses inexpensive, abundant nickel at its busy core.
Although
the catalyst requires more energy to run than a conventional platinum catalyst,
the insight garnered from this result might eventually help make hydrogen fuel
in an environmentally friendly, affordable way.
To
test this hypothesis, the researchers designed the catalyst to have longer arms
that would drag and slow down the flopping. They tested different arm lengths
and found the longer the arms, the faster the catalyst produced hydrogen
molecules.
They
also measured how fast the arms were swinging around. The longer the arms, the
slower the movement, allowing them to attribute the faster hydrogen production
to the slower arm movements. Like excited children playing catch, calming down
a bit lets them hit their mark more often.
See:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
