We are quite familiar with the process of making water in the laboratory, which is taught, to all high school students. The oxygen and hydrogen gas are ignited with a spark and with loud pop water is formed. Scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered a new way of making water sans the pop.
The lead author of the paper, Zachariah Heiden, a doctoral student said that they have found unconventional metal hydrides that can be used for a chemical process called oxygen reduction, which is the essential part of making water. The paper that will be soon published in the journal of the American Chemical Society states that by using the metallic hydrides as catalyst, water can be produced even from alcohols. This work would lead to better catalysts and less expensive fuel cells.
In the well-known equation of water formation as we all know, two molecules of diatomic hydrogen combines with one molecule of diatomic oxygen to produce two molecules of water and releasing energy.
In a fuel cell formation of water involves oxidation of the hydrogen molecules by which it becomes positively charged and reduction of the oxygen molecule by which it becomes negatively charged. The ‘reduction process’ is difficult part of the whole gamut of water formation. The new catalysts would make this reduction process much easier and at the same time will lead to new chemical means for hydrogen oxidation.
Source:EurekAlert
Picture:simplystrata
