IIT Guwahati researchers have created a catalyst that can convert wood alcohol into clean-burning hydrogen gas, making it a viable replacement for fossil fuels. By creating formic acid as a byproduct, the new method not only does away with the requirement for high heat and pressure, but it also does away with carbon dioxide emissions.
THE INVESTIGATION AND THE RESOLUTION
The technique of producing hydrogen from wood alcohol, known as methanol reforming, involves two fundamental issues. It first needs high pressure and temperatures, which are not energy-efficient. The process also produces carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The IIT Guwahati team developed a pincer catalyst that has a core metal and certain organic ligands to address these issues.
The catalyst is particular and selective because of the organic ligands, which function like a crab's claws to hold the metal in place. At significantly lower temperatures, formic acid is created during the reaction in place of carbon dioxide.
BUSINESS POTENTIAL
ChemDist Group of Companies, the project's industrial partner, emphasised the work's potential for economic success.
By converting the less expensive and more readily accessible organic molecule methanol into hydrogen using a less expensive catalyst, at lower temperatures, and without the release of carbon dioxide, the new method has the potential to make substantial advancements towards reaching carbon neutrality.
The catalyst was put on an inert support by the researchers, allowing them to reuse it repeatedly.
The study's findings were co-authored by Vinay Arora, Eileen Yasmin, Niharika Tanwar, Venkatesha R. Hathwar, Tushar Wagh, Dr. Sunil Dhole, and Dr. Akshai Kumar AS and were published in ACS Catalysis.
A crucial step towards building a more ecologically sustainable future is the development of this pincer catalyst for the generation of sustainable green hydrogen fuel and the strong market demand for formic acid as a byproduct.
Source: indiatoday
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