Hydrogen collected in plastic

2002/08/26 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Garraioak
• Materialak
• Energia berriztagarriak

In addition to being flammable, hydrogen is a very light gas that occupies a large volume. Therefore, it is very difficult for cars to be stored in a tank capable of carrying hydrogen in the car enough to move. Today, hydrogen cars carry methane in the tank, produced as the hydrogen needed to move the car moves. But this process is not entirely clean, as to a lesser extent carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.

In 1999 a group of physicists from Singapore proposed metal nailed nanotubes for use as a hydrogen tank. According to them, these nanotubes were able to absorb as many hydrogens as 20% of their weight. These results have never been repeated. Some researchers have managed to synthesize nanotubes that absorb as many hydrogens as 4% by weight, but 6.5% are needed to prepare viable deposits.

In order to reach this magical number, a researcher at the Korea Energy Research Institute suspected that hydrogen absorption capacity may be related to the ability to transport electric current. So, he started testing with cheap conductive polymers instead of expensive nanotubes and checked his suspicions. They were also able to absorb hydrogen. Plastics capable of absorbing 8% of their hydrogen weight have been presented at the American Chemical Society congress this week.

But this is only a small eureka, since the absorption of hydrogen is insufficient. Now you have to investigate whether these polymers are able to release hydrogen at the time it is needed, if you want to use hydrogen filled cars for something!