Getting closer to (cheaper) hydrogen as a fuel: A more rational production method has been discovered!

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan are on the verge of commercializing a discovery that could boost the production of free hydrogen as an alternative to gasoline and diesel.

It seems that the secret may lie in mixing manganese with the much rarer iridium, which is commonly used today in hydrogen production. Manganese is much cheaper.

Currently, hydrogen production requires a catalyst to break the water molecules and release the hydrogen. The best of these catalysts discovered so far was iridium.

However, this metal is very hard to find, which makes it expensive for mass use.

Scientists have found that manganese can be a more than adequate substitute, enabling a reduction of up to 95 percent of the required iridium content.

It is also important that reducing the amount of iridium as the main catalyst does not significantly affect hydrogen production. This discovery could help make hydrogen fuel a viable alternative to carbon-based fuels.

With the new catalyst, hydrogen production was possible continuously for more than 3000 hours (about four months) with 82 percent efficiency, without degradation.

A team of scientists has already started working with industrial partners who have improved the original iridium-manganese catalyst. Together, they intend to continue studying the chemical interaction between iridium and manganese oxide in order to further reduce the amount of iridium required. /Telegraph/