Supercharged acoustic vibrations produce green hydrogen
Engineers in Melbourne have used sound waves to increase green hydrogen production by 14 times, through electrolysis to split water.
They say their invention offers a promising way to harness the abundant supply of cheap hydrogen fuel for transportation and other sectors, which could radically reduce carbon emissions and help fight Climate Change.
By using high-frequency vibrations to “divide and conquer” individual water molecules during electrolysis, the team succeeded in splitting the water molecules to release twice as much hydrogen. 14 times that of standard electrolysis techniques.
Electrolysis involves electricity running through water with two electrode to divide water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen gas, appearing as bubbles. This process produces green hydrogen, which accounts for only a small fraction of global hydrogen production due to high power request.
Most hydrogen is produced from cleavage nature Airknown as green hydrogen, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Associate Professor Amgad Rezk from RMIT University, who led the research, said the team’s innovation solved the major challenges facing green hydrogen production.
“One of the main challenges of electrolysis is the high cost of electrode materials are used, such as platinum or iridium,” said Rezk from RMIT’s School of Engineering.
“With sonic waves making it much easier to extract hydrogen from water, it eliminates the need for corrosive electrolytes and expensive electrodes like platinum or iridium.
“Since water is not a corrosive electrolyte, we can use much cheaper electrode materials like silver.”
Rezk says the ability to use low-cost electrode materials and avoid the use of highly corrosive electrolytes are game-changers for reducing the cost of green hydrogen production.
Research published on Advanced energy materials. An Australian provisional patent application has been filed to protect the new technology.
First author Yemima Ehrnst says the sound waves also prevent the accumulation of hydrogen and oxygen bubbles on the electrodes, which greatly improves its conductivity and stability.
Dr Ehrnst said: “The electrode materials used in the electrolysis process accumulate hydrogen and oxygen gases, forming a gaseous layer that minimizes electrode activity and significantly reduces the efficiency of the electrodes. it”. researcher at the RMIT School of Engineering.
As part of their experiment, the team measured the amount of hydrogen produced through electrolysis with and without sound waves from power output.
“Electrical output of electrolysis with sound wave about 14 times larger than electrolysis without them, for a given input voltage. This is already equivalent to the amount hydrogen production,” Ehrnst said.
Potential applications of team work
Renowned professor Leslie Yeo, one of the leading senior researchers, said the team’s breakthrough opened the door to using this new audio platform for other applications, especially as bubbles Accumulation on electrodes is a challenge.
Yeo from RMIT’s School of Engineering said: “Our ability to prevent bubble build-up on electrodes and rapidly remove them through high-frequency vibration represents a major step forward for conductivity. electricity and electrode stability”.
“With our method, we were able to improve conversion efficiency resulting in a positive net energy savings of 27%.”
Next step
While the innovation is promising, the team needs to overcome the challenges by integrating the sonic innovation with existing electrolyzers to scale the work.
“We are keen to work with industry partners to leverage and complement their existing electrolyzer technology and integrate into existing processes and systems,” said Yeo.
Yemima Ehrnst et al, Sound-induced water frustration for an enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction in a neutral electrolyte, Advanced energy materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203164
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