According to the “Nature†website on February 28 (Beijing time), chemical engineers at the University of Rostock in Germany have developed a new catalyst that can easily extract hydrogen from liquid methanol, making hydrogen storage and transportation easier. Researchers believe that this method eliminates the biggest obstacle in the "hydrogen economy" and that it is hopeful that in the future, hydrogen will be "loaded" into methanol for transportation and storage through pipelines and tank trucks. When it is used, hydrogen will be extracted through chemical reactions to generate electricity for remote rural areas. Or provide fuel for vehicles and other vehicles.
Hydrogen combustion value is high, clean and pollution-free, but the disadvantage is that it cannot be collected in large amounts, it is difficult to store, and transportation is not safe. If it is compressed and liquefied, not only is the method complicated but it also consumes a lot of energy. For decades, many chemists have been looking for the best way to absorb stored hydrogen, making hydrogen a convenient and reliable fuel.
One of the current methods is to use solid or liquid materials to absorb "sequestered" hydrogen. Although there are many candidate materials, either "too little" or too tight, it is not easy to release again. Methanol converts hydrogen directly into liquid fuel. The use of catalysts can combine hydrogen and carbon monoxide into methanol, while methanol can also absorb large amounts of hydrogen, which is approximately 12.5% ​​of its own weight. However, methanol also has the problem of releasing hydrogen. To let it release hydrogen, the previous method used to heat methanol to 200 degrees Celsius and apply 25 to 50 atmospheres.
Matthias Bell, a chemical engineer at the University of Rostock, and colleagues developed a soluble ruthenium-based catalyst that can efficiently release hydrogen from stored methanol at 65 to 95 degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure. "This energy savings is difficult to estimate." Bell said that the purpose of turning methanol into a practical "hydrogen tank" has basically been achieved, and it is expected to power mobile phones, computers, and automotive fuel cells in the future.
Edman Don, a chemist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, has also been studying hydrogen storage. He called the new method an “important discovery.†In particular, the reaction does not require high temperatures, which is roughly equivalent to the waste heat generated by the operation of hydrogen fuel cells. This means It is very attractive to be able to combine methanol-hydrogen reactions with hydrogen batteries. Although there are some hurdles, this methanol-hydrogen conversion process is worth trying because hydrogen fuel cells are twice as efficient as normal fuel cells when powered directly with methanol.
Bell also pointed out that the process is still in its infancy, and that it will take several more years to realize commercialization. There are still some technical obstacles, especially for large-scale reactions. For example, when driving a car, the reaction is required to generate 24 liters of hydrogen per second, while the laboratory reaction produces only a few millilitres of hydrogen per minute; the catalyst must also be stable, can be stored for months or years, and can currently reach at least 3 weeks In addition, the carbon dioxide produced in the reaction is also absorbed to reduce carbon emissions. (Reporter Chang Lijun)
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