MIT has conducted new research for the production of hydrogen, whereby it has used scrap aluminium and water to potentially reduce pollution while the production of hydrogen. Aluminium reacts with water at room temperature forming aluminium hydroxide and hydrogen.
Hydrogen production emits pollution as it requires fossil fuel-based processes that some estimates claim generates as much as two percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Additional pollution is created during the the transportation of hydrogen from its production site to where it is used.
However, new process researched by a team of MIT does not produce any greenhouse gases and also solves the problem of transportation because this process can be conducted where the hydrogen is needed as long as there is water available.
One of the two main challenges of this research was to ensure the aluminium surface was clean and available to react with water. The first step was removing the oxide layer and keeping it from forming again so the reaction could proceed. The other major challenge was pure aluminium is difficult to mine and produce. So, researchers used scrap aluminium for the process.
According to project researchers, many steps are yet to proceed to make the process commercially viable. For instance, an ideal method needs to be developed for preventing the occurrence of an oxide layer on the aluminium surface. Another significant concern is how other elements in the aluminum alloy will affect the amount of hydrogen they’re able to generate.
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