Hierarchical Bulk Nanoporous Aluminum for On-Site Generation of Hydrogen by Hydrolysis in Pure Water and Combustion of Solid Fuels

Abstract

There are still many scientific and engineering challenges that need to be addressed before a true sustainable hydrogen economy can be realized. Three of these challenges include sustainable hydrogen generation without CO2 emissions, effective storage of this hydrogen for specific applications, and expanding the limited existing hydrogen infrastructure. Here we demonstrate (i) the fabrication of hierarchical bulk nanoporous aluminum with the coexistence of macroscopic and mesoscopic ligament/pore structures, with the mesoscopic ligaments in the range of 10–20 nm; (ii) the use of this aluminum to produce hydrogen on-site with a yield of ∼52–90% by hydrolysis with “pure” water, without incorporation of any catalyst or reaction promoter in the aluminum-water system; and (iii) the combustion of this aluminum in air under ambient conditions, which implies that this material could be attractive as a combustion fuel catalyst, e.g., to enhance the ignition and combustion of solid propellants. The inclusion of secondary aluminum or carbon-free primary aluminum in our process will make it possible to produce hydrogen with reduced carbon footprint for on-site and on-board applications using only nanoporous aluminum and water.

E-Beam Deposition of Scandia-Stabilized Zirconia (ScSZ) Thin Films Co-Doped with Al

“…The surface of ScAlSZ consists of Sc, Zr, Al, and C compounds, and OH groups (Figure 3a). Detailed information on those compounds was obtained after analysis of the O 1s, Zr 3d, Al 2p and Sc 2p regions (Figure 3b [31][32][33][34][35]. Similar positions of binding energies were found for ScSZ by Xue et al in [28].…”

Raising the COx Methanation Activity of a Ru/γ‐Al2O3 Catalyst by Activated Modification of Metal–Support Interactions

“…Peak fitting of the Al 2p spectrum of the Ru/g-Al 2 O 3 -TPR catalyst results in agood fit if we add as econd component at about 76.3 eV with aF WHM = 2.35 eV,w hich comprises about 9.5 %o ft he Al 3+ ions in the g-Al 2 O 3 -TPR catalyst. Following ap revious assignment, [30,31] we attribute this peak to aluminum oxyhydroxide (AlO(OH)) species.T he discrepancyt ot he NMR results can be explained by the surface sensitivity of XPS measurements.…”

Effect of Structure and Composition of Non-Stoichiometry Magnesium Aluminate Spinel on Water Adsorption

“…Three types of bonds, specifically M–M, M–O and M–OH bonds (M = Al, Mg), were considered for each spectrum. In the Al2p spectra, these are assigned at ~73.0, 74.1 and 75.2 eV, respectively [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. In the Mg2p spectra, their assignments are ~49.3, 50.9 and 51.8, respectively [ 36 ].…”