Hydrogen from Waste Waters. A new source?

Source: http://reneweconomy.com.au

Hydrogen can be produced using electricity to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from water. The source we use to produce electricity is currently being debated by those countries in search for a zero-carbon society.

A group of scientists from the University of Adelaide lead a group of researchers who have found a way to obtain renewable hydrogen from waste water. Being this so, this clean energy will both prevent pollution and help treat waste waters.

Urea is very abundant in waste waters and can be used to power fuel cells instead of the conventional technology that uses clean water in electrolyzers. The efficiency of the power conversion technologies using urea is based on the electrochemical urea oxidation reaction (UOR). Currect electrolyzers have not managed to be very efficient yet.

According to the publication in Nature Energy, a catalyst has been made from nickel ferrocyanide that requires less energy whilst reducing the urea contents of waste waters.

“Electrocatalytic techniques can convert urea-rich wastewater, which has become a big threat to human health, to hydrogen for clean energy generation as well as reducing its harmful effects on the environment,” said the University of Adelaide’s Professor Shizhang Qiao, a joint-corresponding author of the study.

“We have developed a new kind of catalyst that more efficiently generates clean energy from waste water that contains urea,” added Associate Professor Yao Zheng, a joint first-author of the study based at the University of Adelaide’s School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials.

“We have shown for the first time that we can make the process in the electrolyser work more efficiently so it can reduce the energy input and produce more hydrogen, than those that use existing catalysts.”