Turns water into Hydrogen at room temperature

Scientists have described a relatively simple method involving Aluminium nanoparticles that are able to strip the Oxygen from water molecules and leave Hydrogen gas. The process yields large amounts of Hydrogen. That removes one of the big barriers to Hydrogen fuel production.

This technique works with any kind of water, too, including wastewater and ocean water.

Scientists have used Gallium metal to enable an ongoing reaction with the water. This Aluminium-gallium-water reaction has been known about for decades, but here the team optimized and enhanced it in a few particular ways.

Researchers were able to find the best mix of Aluminium and Gallium for producing Hydrogen with the greatest efficiency: 3:1 in favour of Gallium.

The gallium-rich alloy does double duty in both removing Aluminium’s oxide coating (which would ordinarily block the reaction with water) and in producing the Aluminium nanoparticles that enable faster reactions.

The gallium separates the nanoparticles and keeps them from aggregating into larger particles.

In this process, Gallium can be recovered and reused many times over without losing its effectiveness.

Overall, the [Gallium-rich Gallium-Aluminium] mixture produces substantial amounts of Hydrogen at room temperature with no energy input, material manipulation, or pH modification.