Autos News

I’ve talked about the artificial leaf many times before as a novel idea in which significant amounts of hydrogen could be produced. In fact, in March of 2011, I had talked about a researcher named Daniel Nocera, Ph.D. who had created such an artificial leaf and was putting the polishing touches on it.

Today, however that leaf is polished and ready for the spotlight. Nocera and his team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created an artificial leaf using cheap and common metals plus sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

According to ACS.org, “The key to this breakthrough is Nocera’s recent discovery of several powerful , inexpensive catalysts, made of nickel and cobalt, that are capable of efficiently splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen, under simple conditions. Right now, Nocera’s leaf is about 10 times more efficient at bringing out photosynthesis than a natural leaf. However, he is optimistic that he can boost the efficiency of the artificial leaf much higher in the future.”

Nocera’s idea was to use his artificial leaves in developing nations where homes are not tied to the national grid. Every home could be its own power plant. And while this is a good idea, another good idea is to use his artificial leaves in general to create hydrogen for cars, homes, fueling stations, home fueling stations and industry.

The sky’s the limit with Nocera’s artificial leaf. And when reaching for the sky, sometimes the sky reaches back.

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Yesterday I had talked about how a senior chemist, Radoslav Adzic, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (run by the DOE) had won the 2012 Inventor of the Year Award for his work with reducing the amount of platinum needed in fuel cells.

Well, today the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has some more big s this time in regard to developing platinum-free hydrogen production (similar to a fuel cell run in reverse). Another lab chemist, Kotaro Sasaki and his team (pictured above) have developed a robust electrocatalyst that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and uses no platinum in the process.

Instead the electrocatalyst uses nickel, molybdenum and nitrogen to create a nanosheet structure with high surface area and high durability. According to BNL, “Water provides an ideal source of pure hydrogen – abundant and free of harmful greenhouse gas byproducts. The electrolysis of water, or splitting water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2), requires external electricity and an efficient catalyst to break chemical bonds while shifting around protons and electrons. To justify the effort, the amount of energy put into the reaction must be as small as possible while still exceeding the minimum required by thermodynamics, a figure associated with what is called overpotential …

“…the principal metals in the compound developed by the Brookhaven team are both abundant and cheap: $20 per kilogram for nickel and $32 per kilogram for molybdenum. Combined, that’s 1000 times less expensive than platinum.”

The researchers say that the nanosheet performs almost as good as platinum in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen plus it is durable and scalable as well. This means that commercialization of this electrocatalyst is viable and we can expect to see it making its way out of the lab sometime in the near future.

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The York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) has named a senior chemist, Radoslav Adzic, who works for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with its prestigious 2012 Inventor of the Year award. It’s Adzic’s work with nanocatalysts that use small, durable amounts of platinum to create reactions in hydrogen PEM fuel cells that caught the eye of the NYIPLA.

According to the BNL, “This electrocatalyst presents a novel, scientific remedy to a commercial roadblock – how to make platinum electrocatalysts more durable and affordable. Though platinum is an extremely effective electrocatalyst in the fuel cells of electric vehicles, its cost and its lack of durability and chemical stability make it a difficult sell as a commercially viable green energy solution.

“To preserve the benefits of platinum while mitigating its negatives, Adzic and his lab devised a electrocatalyst by coating a hearty palladium alloy nanoparticle with a platinum monolayer, or single atom-thick, shell. Hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells that include the catalyst use hydrogen as a fuel and produce electricity, with water as a byproduct.”

Earlier this same year, this technology was licensed to a Japanese corporation, N.E. Chemcat, which is a precious metal producer. N. E. Chemcat will “create and offer large quantities of the catalyst to the interested laboratories and industries.”

So, there you have it, another reason why Federal funding for hydrogen research and development suppose to be not be cut and instead expanded. Research from the DOE makes money by licensing technology to other companies. These companies in turn, hire employees and put products into the marketplace which again can generate jobs and revenue. Congrats to Radoslav Adzic for helping to lower the barriers for the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cells and for making them a solution we can use now.

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In the Springtime of the past several years the Oval Office has wanted to cut funding for hydrogen research and development. And just as in years past, the U. S. Senate has come to the rescue to restore at least some of that funding.

This year is no different thanks to U. S. Senator Charles E. Shumer who had the foresight to step in and help one of the Senate committees restore funding for fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure.

According to Shumer, “Earlier this year, the Administration proposed eliminating the Department of Energy’s Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) funding within the DOE Fossil Energy program, which helps fund the development of fuel cell technology and supports approximately 60 jobs in Henrietta and cuts $24 million for fuel cell R&D in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Reable Energy (EERE).”

He goes onto say about rescuing the funding, “This legislation also restored $24 million for a total of $104 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Reable Energy (EERE) for fuel cell development. Moreover, the legislation directs a significant portion of this funding to be used specifically for developing hydrogen refueling infrastructure systems which are vital to making sure hydrogen-fueled vehicles, like those under development at GM’s Honeoye Falls facility, can be commercialized. The more roadside filling stations that can provide hydrogen fuel expands the market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The legislation also provides capacity for technology validation and market transformation activities to grow fuel cell development.”

With tight Federal budgets and a desire to shrink the deficit, hydrogen research has been on the chopping block for the past 3 years. Thank goodness there are still a few advocates in powerful government positions to fight for a hydrogen future for all of us.

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A company called Hygen Industries, which develops hydrogen fueling stations based upon reable resources and on-demand electrolysis, is claiming that member companies in the California Fuel Cell Partnership are rigging the system in order to avoid competition.

According to <a title="Courthouses.com” href=”http://www.courthouses.com/2012/04/27/46025.htm” target=”_blank”>Courthouses.com, “Major automakers conspired to eliminate competition in hydrogen refueling stations, which California has demanded under a clean energy program, a reable energy company claims in a state antitrust complaint.

“HyGen Industries sued divisions of Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Kia, and the California Fuel Cell Partnership and the California Energy Commission, in Santa Clara County Court.

“HyGen claims it has a cleaner fuel system than the defendants, and that as a result of the conspiracy, ‘competition in the field of hydrogen fueling infrastructure has been restrained, suppressed and eliminated.’

“HyGen ‘is engaged in the business of developing and implementing reable energy programs and implementing society’s transition to a clean, sustainable/reable hydrogen economy,’ according to the complaint.

“HyGen claims that the says that the California Energy Commission moved up its awarding of the grants for hydrogen technology development by three weeks ‘solely to prevent plaintiff from having a court determine the rights and obligations of the parties as they relate to this lawsuit.’”

So, there you have it. Just when you thought hydrogen cars and infrastructure were flying under the radar and no one was noticing, this lawsuit pops up regarding the California Hydrogen Highway. No matter what the outcome is, this debate is a good one to have in regard to pushing the agenda of building up the hydrogen fueling infrastructure forward at a faster pace.

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