A promising alloy for the future of fuel cells

[freddau]

Water, aluminum, gallium: this is the energy cocktail concocted by a team of American researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette (Indiana). Its inventors detailed the recipe at the Second International Conference on Energy and Nanotechnology, held from 5 at 7 September in Santa Clara, California.



For the record, one of them, Jerry Woodall, would have discovered by chance, in 1967, while he was working in the semiconductor industry and that he washed with water a crucible containing an alloy aluminum and gallium liquid, that a release of hydrogen then occurred. The idea has slowly made its way, the time to meet a world economic favorable to the search for alternative solutions to fossil fuels. A patent has been filed. And a start-up, AlGalCo, created to commercialize the process.

The automotive industry may be interested. All major manufacturers seek, in fact, to develop engines using hydrogen, either as fuel or to fuel a fuel cell which, on the principle of reverse electrolysis, produces electricity from the oxygen from the air and hydrogen.

Problem: this last gas, highly explosive, is difficult to store. In addition, its production, usually by steam cracking of hydrocarbons (a process that involves breaking molecules) releases CO2. These disadvantages could be avoided by an on-demand on-demand embedded system, both clean and safe.

The oxidation reaction of aluminum in contact with water is known: the oxygen of the water combines with the metal to form aluminum oxide, or alumina, and the hydrogen is released. The novelty here is to use a liquid mixture of aluminum and gallium, which improves the chemical reaction.

Gallium, a metal found in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores, has the disadvantage of being expensive. Jerry Woodall's team, which initially used a 72% gallium compound, was able to develop a mixture where this metal only enters 20%.

In addition, gallium, which does not need for this reaction to be as pure as that involved in the manufacture of electronic components, can be fully reused. As for alumina, it can be recycled into aluminum.

The researchers believe that this process could eventually make it possible to obtain a fuel that would be "competitive with gasoline". On condition, however, that a complete industrial sector is set up. Along with the automobile, domestic heating could also constitute an outlet.

There is enough aluminum in the United States to meet all electricity needs for thirty-five years, scientists have calculated. And enough reserves of gallium known to roll a billion cars.

For Paul Lucchese, director of the New Energy Technologies program at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), "this is one avenue among others". The CEA is exploring other large-scale hydrogen production sectors - such as high-temperature electrolysis - or, on the contrary, dedicated to integrated miniaturized systems, for example, for computers or mobile phones.

Technologies that use hydrogen to drive individual vehicles should mature, says Paul Lucchese, to 2015 or 2020.

Pierre Le Hir
Le Monde

[Petrus]

And in addition we can do it at home:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ECB3EDD ... /?ALLSTEPS

[Capt_Maloche]

AH, I'm disappointed, I thought these were new materials that could trap H2 at low pressure

It's a whole industry that turns around aluminum
Refuel with aluminum and recover the alumina ...
why not, in the form of a cartridge, but good
How much energy to reprocess 1kg alumina?

I bet quite for these new materials capable of trapping H2 at low pressure and direct production of nuclear and solar H2.

[elephant]

I'm not very hot: it's probably as bad as the NaOH + Al reaction.

as for the world production: 55 tons! as you need 20%