Penn State scientists say that a new, highly sensitive system for detecting the production of hydrogen gas may be an important part of the quest to develop hydrogen as an eco-friendly and economical alternative to fossil fuels.
The professor of materials science and engineering and physics at Penn State said that they have built a new system for detecting hydrogen evolution that is the most sensitive in the world.
The scientists said that the tool can be used to screen promising photocatalysts, materials that when placed in water and exposed to sunlight facilitate reactions that split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The process of water splitting offers a clean and renewable source of hydrogen, but it is inefficient and finding the right photocatalysts to boost hydrogen production has been difficult.
The team was able to detect very small amounts of hydrogen gas produced, or hydrogen evolution, in the range of tens ofnanometers per hour. Their findings were published in the Review of Scientific Instruments.
If you ranked low in both the categories of hydrogen evolution rate and the mass of the photocatalyst needed, it means it is a sensitive system for discovering new photocatalytic materials.
Developing photocatalysts is an area of intense research. A group of scientists at Penn State used a computer to narrow down a list of more than 70,000 different compounds to six promising candidates. A team led by Raymond Schaak, the Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Delaware, synthesized the materials in their laboratory, but creating even small amounts is time consuming and expensive.
The graduate student in materials science and engineering said that typical photocatalysts use rare and precious metals, which are immensely expensive.
The new system will allow scientists to test smaller amounts of these materials and focus efforts on the most promising candidates. When it came time to test samples, the researchers found that commercial equipment was not sensitive enough, so they built their own.
The validation of our predictions was aided by the development of a uniquely sensitive gas chromatography setup for the reproducible detection of hydrogen.
Scientists said that the new design can test photocatalysts in their bare state. Co-catalysts and other techniques can further improve the efficiency of photocatalysts. The gold standard is titanium dioxide with Platinum particles added as a co-catalyst. The add-ons are considered bare.
The simplest way to help guide the direction is to detect the bare form.
The scientists said that two of the photocatalyst materials tested performed better than titanium dioxide in its bare state. The findings suggest that further study of those materials could lead to promising photocatalysts.
If you have a bare compound that behaved better than titanium dioxide, we can improve it.
The scientists said the system is easy to build and affordable. It has a low leak rate and a small reaction chamber volume, which allow it to detect hydrogen evolution three orders of magnitude higher than a conventional gas chromatography system.
It is a simple, cost-effective system that anyone can build. Their research for discovering new photocatalysts is going to go much faster if they do.
Rebecca is a graduate student in the Eberly College of Science.
More information: Huaiyu(Hugo) Wang et al, Ultrasensitive electrode-free and co-catalyst-free detection of nanomoles per hour hydrogen evolution for the discovery of new photocatalysts, Review of Scientific Instruments (2022). DOI: 10.1063/5.0077650 Journal information: Review of Scientific Instruments Citation: New screening system may point the way to clean, renewable hydrogen power (2022, March 1) retrieved 1 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-screening-renewable-hydrogen-power.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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