{"id":14171,"date":"2021-08-18T09:32:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T16:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=14171"},"modified":"2021-08-18T09:32:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T16:32:03","slug":"mit-makes-hydrogen-scrap-aluminum-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/mit-makes-hydrogen-scrap-aluminum-water\/","title":{"rendered":"MIT Makes Hydrogen from Scrap Aluminum and Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers may be on the track of producing hydrogen from a reaction between aluminum (the scrappier the better) and water.\u00a0<\/a> Their \u201csimple way\u201d of generating H2 from aluminum and water can take place anywhere, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n

Since groups like ZeroAvia and Pipistrel with the DLR (German Space Agency) and HY4 are working toward at least intermediate-range hydrogen-powered flight, an inexpensive way to produce the gas would be a blessing.\u00a0 Current methods of producing H2 from fossil-fuel-related materials can be more detrimental to the environment than the promise hydrogen would otherwise bring, however.<\/p>\n

Corroding but Not Rusting<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dr. Laureen Meroueh along with Professor Douglas Hart and Professor Thomas Eager at MIT have found a way to react aluminum with water at normal room temperature, leading to the formation of aluminum oxide while releasing hydrogen gas.<\/p>\n

Under normal conditions, aluminum exposed to water develops a coating of aluminum oxide.\u00a0 Stanford researchers in 2000 discovered why this does not become destructive \u201crust\u201d<\/a> like that on steel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aluminum aircraft don’t corrode because of protective coating. Alclad\u00a0 Ryan SC-W shines because of labor-intensive polishing<\/p><\/div>\n

Gordon Brown, Jr., the Dorrell William Kirby Professor of Earth Sciences explains, “Water actually changes the structure of the solid surface.\u00a0 In the journal I, Brown and others presented the first atomic-level model of what happens when water and aluminum oxide meet. ” As the name would suggest, aluminum oxide is atoms of aluminum and oxygen bonded together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Brown and Trainor discovered that, when water molecules come in contact with aluminum oxide, the aluminum and oxygen atoms on the surface move apart — in some cases separating by more than 50 percent compared to their normal molecular positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, when the outer layer of aluminum oxide gets hydrated or wet, its structure changes just enough to become chemically inert and thus unable to react rapidly with additional water molecules or atmospheric oxygen. This change in molecular structure is why aluminum oxide metal resists corrosion.\u201d\u00a0 This 20-year-old discovery is key to the MIT researchers\u2019 ability to make H2 from oxidized aluminum.\u00a0 It takes a little fine tuning, though.<\/p>\n

A Little Tuning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The thin oxide layer on the aluminum keeps the aluminum from corroding further, but also prevents it from reacting any further with water.\u00a0 To counter that, researchers had Novelis, Inc.<\/a> prepare pure aluminum and special alloy samples with coatings of, \u201c0.6% silicon (by weight), 1.0% magnesium, or both\u2014compositions that are typical of scrap aluminum from a variety of sources.\u201d<\/p>\n