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Monday, 18th January 2010 (5429 views)

A new nanotechnology method that employs gold nanotubes to extract clean hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels could prove a major breakthrough in the development of a cheaper and more efficient process for producing energy cells.

Typically, extracting clean hydrogen involves two steps, Nano Patents and Innovations reports.

Firstly, hydrocarbons such as petroleum or natural gas are converted into a gas made up of hydrogen, carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Then, in a process known as the water-gas shift, steam is generated to react with the CO and produce CO2.

This step can be expensive, as a lot of energy is needed to convert the water into steam to trigger the catalytic process.

However, researchers led by James Dumesic, Steenbock professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, used gold nanorods to eliminate the need for the water-gas shift.

The gold nanotube oxidises the CO to CO2 within an aqueous solution.

Because this reaction takes place at room temperature, the process offers significant energy and cost savings.

Furthermore, it captures the energy in the CO to generate additional power.

Professor Dumesic won the New York Catalysis Society Award in 1994 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998.

 

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