The useful noble gas may provide a breakthrough way to store hydrogen for fuel
Posted 11.23.2009 at 6:14 pm
13 Comments
Hydrogen Storage: Store me some hydrogen Nature Chemistry/H-Racer
Researchers used a diamond anvil device to squeeze together xenon and hydrogen, and create high pressures reaching 41,000 times the normal pressure at sea level. The hydrogen atoms formed a lattice structure embedded with loosely bonded xenon pairs, which eventually formed tightly bound xenon pairs under even greater pressures ranging up to 225,000 times the atmosphere at sea level.
The unusually stable solid may clue scientists in on a new method of storing hydrogen. Vehicles from automobiles to aerial drones could run on hydrogen fuel, but only if researchers can figure out how to store enough of the low-density gas within a small enough space to make it cost-effective.
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Technology, Jeremy Hsu, diamond anvils, energy, fuel cells, hydrogen, hydrogen economy, hydrogen storage, solids, xenon"Xenon is too heavy and expensive to be practical for use in hydrogen-storage applications," said Maddury Somayazulu, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "But by understanding how it works in this situation, researchers can come up with lighter substitutes."
Creating hydrogen from environmentally friendly resources has also proved a bit of a challenge, even though scientists have begun tinkering with lab-modified algae. But until the right technologies come into play for a functioning hydrogen economy, other energy sources must step up.
[via Science Daily]
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Here's hoping. There have been a number of promising schemes in the Hydrogen storage area -- apparently none to date have been adequate.
anyone got an air compressor at home that can amount to the 41000 psi?
cool
The article didn't say it requires 41,000 PSI.. it said 41,000 times the pressure at sea level... at sea level that is about 14.69PSI... meaning i guess about 602,533PSI..... that's just to start, then if I'm right, then eventually forming greater pressures up to 3,306,588 PSI!
Am i wrong?
helium might work.
its lighter than argon
Something like this could be used with nitrous oxide for a great water bomb effect, or used as a high temp hydrogen super conductor.
@ Zen
either way, no pratical use for it.
why not stick to the ever popular hydrogen/oxygen engine. keep mixing the 2, the explosions push the pistons, then the water undergoes electrolysis, and reused again. seems simple enough. but i'm probably overlooking some major safety hazard :-P
Here's an idea, why don't they freeze it after they compress it, that should help even compress it further, right?
What a dumb idea - at least for Energy Storage. Methanol has 5.8 X the energy density of H2 @ 3000 psi, and 1.64 X that of Liquid H2 - and Methanol contains 40% more H2 than Liquid H2 per unit volume.
So store H2 in Methanol, simple, cheap & effective.
very cool
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