Researchers Found A Way To Extract Hydrogen From Sea Water Without Desalinate It
The scientists from Australia in collaboration with colleagues from Tianjin and Nankai Universities in China and the University of Kent in the USA have developed a way to improve conventional commercial electrolyzers that can break down seawater with “nearly 100 percent efficiency” without any pre-treatment other than filtration.
Conventional metal catalysts based on platinum and other precious metals require long and complex preparation of sea water for hydrogen production. The scientists were able to adapt cheap cobalt oxide and chromium oxide catalysts for this, but pre-treated their surface with the so-called Lewis acid. The addition of acid blocks all destructive chemical processes and allows inexpensive catalysts to last longer even in such an unprepared environment.
“We split ordinary sea water into oxygen and hydrogen with almost 100 percent efficiency to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen by electrolysis using a non-precious and cheap catalyst in a commercial electrolyzer,” said Professor Shizhan Qiao.
