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Hydrogen electrolysis advancement

bmwh7_3.jpg

A research team from the Tokyo University of Science and the Japan Science and Technology Agency has managed to use gallium nitride (GaN) crystals to extract hydrogen from water, which might lead to the development of more efficient processes of extracting hydrogen for the use in fuel cells.

A GaN wafer is connected with platinum using a wire, and immersed in water. Light is applied, and current flows through the water which causes electrolysis, hence producing hydrogen. The efficiency of converting light energy to hydrogen energy using this method is a mere 0.5%, however efficiency was improved 1.3 times by introducing the narrower bandgap material such as InGaN. According to Professor Kazuhiro Ohkawa of the Tokyo University of Science applied physics department, this can be raised to more than 20%.

I’m just wondering if this is the magic metal used in LMG’s Hydroxene :roll:

Source

10 Comments »

  1. Joe Cole said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 6:57 am

    wowwww

  2. shagalot said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 7:14 am

    0.5% efficiency… long time to go summore…

  3. normal_user said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 7:55 am

    Are the GaN crystals recyclable/re-usable? If not, then the technology still require non-renewable resources. I think the problem with hydrogen extractrion is that huge energy is required to produce the fuel cells battery (from chemical reaction); which is worthless if fuel fossils are used to produce the energy in the first place.

  4. rosdi said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 8:42 am

    Crystals? They are using crystals to produce hydrogen??

    Lo and behold my friend…! We are approaching a new era of technology! We wont be using fossil fuel no more… it is time to embrace crystallic fusion!..

    Everything will be build from crystals.. anything.. just like the people on Krypton.. they have been using crystals for ages!

    http://theages.superman.ws/Encyclopaedia/krypton.php#planet

  5. rexis said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 8:42 am

    Hey it said light is applied, this thing generate H2 through sunlight! Remaking Photosynthesis?

    Nah, the magic LMB box do not have a sunroof…

  6. protonGL said,

    November 1, 2006 @ 2:42 pm

    it all about energy transfer. to move that fat bm, energe needed and waste byproduct is undeniabel in what ever level it is produced.

    electric car? (can charged it from electric hydro) one day you need to dispose the batteries, 10000000 of batteries .its huge..

    W A L K……………!!
    (the thing is everybody wants a BM…)

  7. msmar_453 said,

    November 2, 2006 @ 3:14 pm

    I had no idea the technology had advanced so fast.
    This is great!

  8. topgunthang said,

    November 4, 2006 @ 3:16 pm

    LMG. now thats funny.

    everybody already in the world has about the same idea how to approach it.

  9. Romaunt said,

    November 5, 2006 @ 12:19 am

    this is good news

    towards greener earth..!

  10. szw said,

    November 5, 2006 @ 7:21 pm

    huh ?

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