Hydrogen fuel is considered a source of clean energy. This is why what a team of researchers in a joint collaboration between the University of Antwerp and KU Leven have designed and manufactured a device that is able to take polluted air and purify it using sunlight in a way that produces hydrogen gas, which can be utilized as a source of energy.
The process required for this to happen is a result of combining two processes – that of hydrogen production and air purification. The joint collaboration project was the result of two individual teams, each from their respective university, researching each process independently before coming together to create this technology. At the University of Antwerp there had been scientific experiments in regards to seeing if one could use energy from light together with certain types of nanomaterials to purify air.
Meanwhile at the University of Leuven, researchers were working on a tiny fuel cell with a membrane that could derive hydrogen gas from water. The joint collaboration has resulted in their groundbreaking device which combines some variation of both technologies.
The initial phase of this technology involves tweaking the process to make it work in terms of purifying volatile organic compounds, which are molecules found in adhesives, upholstery, carpeting, copy machines, cleaning fluids, among other items. A greater concentration of the volatile organic compounds can lead to adverse effects in a human being like nausea, severe headaches, eye irritation, dizziness and asthma attacks.
The Environmental Protection Agency states that these molecules can be found in the air of indoor and enclosed places that are not properly ventilated. Among buildings most likely to have these types of molecules are newly built high rise buildings and factories that produce items like paint and carpeting.
The sick building syndrome is said to be a disease that arises as a result of this type of indoor air pollution. The square shaped prototype cell has an area of 0.4 by 0.4 inches, or 1 cm by 1 cm. The device has a tube that receives polluted air on one side of the device, the transparent window in the middle allows light to penetrate through and activate the membrane using light as it’s catalyst. When polluted air and light meet at the membrane, the light activated catalyst destroys the volatile organic molecules.
During this process, protons are released and pass through the membrane, where they collect on the opposite end of the device from where the polluted air came in. A platinum catalyst then converts these molecules into hydrogen gas. The purified air then proceeds to exit through the second tube. So far the research team has been successful in creating purified air from numerous organic compounds, including methanol, ethanol and acetic acid. The research team is also conducting experiments using the use of acetaldehyde, a liquid used in the manufacturing process for producing acetic acid and perfumes. The device can serve to reduce a portion of the contributors to overall air pollutants, in factories such as those that produce paint and textiles, that continuously manufacture waste as a byproduct of the production process that contributes to air pollution.
The waste streams can be purified from this technology and the factories in turn will be able to meet their environmental quota, a regulatory measure enforced by governments to entice companies to reduce the amount of pollution they produce in their operations, but instead of letting the energy produced in those molecules go to waste, it can be captured and stored in a manner that is efficient and not wasteful.
The captured hydrogen gas could then be used to convert into electricity and used as power source for both the machines as well as the lights inside the factory. The only problem that remains for the team is one of engineering in terms of creating a method for siphoning the hydrogen gas molecules into a storage container. The focus for the team has been to enhance the performance of the cell used in the device. The membrane can currently be activated by the ultraviolet rays in sunlight, which is a mere 4-5 percent of the spectrum. Researchers said it’s they are working on making their theory of increasing the activation to incorporate 40-50 percent of the spectrum of sunlight as it would provide the cell with a much higher efficiency. The team said that being able to improve the environment as well as create a clean energy source has been a great motivator for them, and that the net benefit of being able to create hydrogen gas from sunlight alone means that there will be no need for any additional energy input in order to make the device function.
Air pollution is a leading and direct cause of death for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. There is no commercially available technology that cleanses industrial levels of air pollution that is installed on a widespread network of nodes thus far. Most cities rely on shrubbery and trees to purify the air.
Additionally, a study by Yale School of Public Health found air pollution to be a leading contributor to depression, while ACS Nano conducted a study that revealed it contributed to heart disease and strokes. Other studies connect some incidences of lung cancer and asthma.