According to the US Daily Science website on May 22 (Beijing time), engineers at Duke University in the United States have used new catalysts in hydrogen production. The results show that the new method can reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) to nearly zero while generating hydrogen, and the temperature required for carrying out the new reaction is also lower than the conventional method, and therefore it is more practical. The study was published in the "catalysis journal" in May.
Although hydrogen is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, the cost of manufacturing and collecting molecular hydrogen for transportation and industrial applications is very high and the process is quite complicated. Most current hydrogen production methods produce carbon monoxide that is toxic to humans and animals.
The latest method of producing renewable energy sources is the use of ethanol-based raw materials, such as methanol, extracted from biomass. When methanol is treated with steam, a hydrogen rich mixture that can be used in fuel cells is produced. The first author of the research paper, Nick Hortz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the Duke University School of Engineering, said: "The main problem with this method is that carbon monoxide is produced, and a small amount of carbon monoxide can quickly destroy the fuel cell. Catalysts that are critical to the performance of cell membranes."
“What everyone wants to be able to produce useful energy in a sustainable and pollution-free manner to replace fossil fuels is our ultimate goal,†said Timothy Sodia, a graduate student at Hottz Laboratories. The hydrogen used in the fuel cell is manufactured. Unlike the traditional method using gold nanoparticles as the only catalyst, our new reaction uses a combination of gold and iron oxide nanoparticles as a catalyst. The new method can continuously produce hydrogen, resulting in The carbon monoxide concentration is only 0.002% and the by-products are carbon dioxide and water."
Sodia explained: “People have always believed that iron oxide nanoparticles are just the 'containers' of gold nanoparticles, and gold nanoparticles are responsible for the reaction. But we have found that increasing the surface area of ​​iron oxide can significantly increase gold nanoparticles. The catalytic activity."
The researchers allowed the new reaction to proceed for more than 200 hours and found that the ability of the catalyst to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide in the hydrogen-rich gas mixture did not decline.
Sodia acknowledged: "At present, we do not know what the mechanism underlying the new reaction is. Although the size of gold nanoparticles is critical for the reaction, future research should focus on the role of iron oxide particles in chemical reactions. "(Reporter Liu Xia)
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