Hybrid solid-state system harvests more hydrogen from water

(From left) Junyoung Kim, Professor Guntae Kim, and Ohhun Gwona are part of the team who developed the Hybrid-SOEC, a more efficient new system for producing hydrogen(Credit:UNIST)

Clean and plentiful, hydrogen is a promising fuel source, but there are a few problems standing in the way of it becoming mainstream. South Korean scientists have now developed a new system for producing hydrogen from water, which that they say overcomes some of these issues and produces the gas more efficiently than other water electrolysis systems.

The new device was developed by a research team consisting of scientists from the 

• Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 
• Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) and 
• Sookmyung Women's University, 

and is based on an existing design called a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC).

These work like other electrolyzers in that an electrical current splits water into its constituent molecules – hydrogen and oxygen – which can then be harvested. The difference is that in this setup, both electrodes are solid-state, as is the electrolyte that carries the ions between them.

This has a few advantages over systems that use liquid electrolytes – namely, 

• the liquids need to be topped up occasionally, and over time they tend to corrode other components. 
• And since solid-state electrolyzers operate at higher temperatures, they don't need as much electrical energy to function because they can draw energy from that heat.

But SOECs still have room for improvement. There are two main designs that use different electrolytes: 

• One allows only oxygen ions to pass through, and 
• the other only hydrogen ions. 

In either case, that one-way street limits the amount of hydrogen that can be produced.

So the researchers developed a new Hybrid-SOEC, which uses a mixed-ion conductor to transport both negatively-charged oxygen ions and positively-charged hydrogen ions (protons) at the same time. The end result had all the benefits of a solid-state electrolyzer, with improved efficiency.

"By controlling the driving environment of the hydrogen ion conductive electrolyte, a 'mixed ion conductive electrolyte' in which two ions pass can be realized," says Junyoung Kim, first author of the study. "In Hybrid-SOEC where this electrolyte was first introduced, water electrolysis occurred at both electrodes, which results in significant increase in total hydrogen production."

Using the mixed-ion conductor and electrodes made of layered perovskite, the Hybrid-SOEC produced 1.9 liters (0.5 gal) of hydrogen per hour, running at a cell voltage of 1.5 V and a temperature of 700° C (1,292° F). The researchers say that's four times more efficient than existing water electrolysis systems, and after running the device continuously for 60 hours, there were no signs of that performance degrading.

The research was published in the journal Nano Energy.

Source: UNIST

ORIGINAL: New Atlas

Michael Irving

December 28th, 2017

This Living Light is powered by a houseplant

1- The lamp works using photosynthesis. As organic compounds are released in the soil, bacteria generates electrons and protons. Those in turn are used as a battery to power the light.

Imagine a lamp that doesn’t need to be plugged in – and that you have to water once a week. Ermi van Oers is making it happen with this incredible plant-turned-lamp. The Living Light is an off-grid light that’s powered by a houseplant instead of an electrical socket.

2- The healthier your plant is, the more photosynthesis takes place and the more energy you generate, which is a pretty cool way to gauge how happy your plant lamp is.

3- Imagine a lamp that doesn't need to be plugged in and that you have to water once a week. Ermi van Oers is making it happen with this incredible plant-turned-lamp. The Living Light uses a houseplant to generate its energy in a totally self-sufficient, off-grid system that doesn't need an electric socket to power up.

As organic compounds are released into the soil from photosynthesis, bacteria generates electrons and protons. These particles are tapped as an energy source to power the light. The healthier the plant is, the more photosynthesis takes place – and the more energy the system generates. It’s a pretty cool way to gauge how happy your plant lamp is.

4- Living Light produces up to 0.1mW of energy, which isn't enough to light an entire room, but is plenty to act as your evening reading lamp.

5- Living Light produces up to 0.1mW of energy, which isn't enough to light an entire room, but is plenty to act as your evening reading lamp.

6- The plant and the light form a circle of energy that can go off-grid and requires no electric socket to work.

7- The project was featured at this year's Dutch Design Week.

8- Imagine a lamp that doesn't need to be plugged in and that you have to water once a week. Ermi van Oers is making it happen with this incredible plant-turned-lamp. The Living Light uses a houseplant to generate its energy in a totally self-sufficient, off-grid system that doesn't need an electric socket to power up.

The Living Light produces up to 0.1mW of energy, which isn’t enough to light an entire room, but it’s plenty to act as your evening reading lamp.

Van Oers and team aren’t done yet – they’re working on increasing the energy output, and they imagine that entire towns could be powered by forests one day.

+ Ermi van Oers

Via Dezeen

ORIGINAL: Inhabitat

by Kristine Lofgren

11/17/2017