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Researchers have developed a technology that can overcome a major cost barrier to make clean-burning hydrogen fuel. A new technology based on carbon nanotubes promises commercially viable hydrogen production from water.
· Electrolysis, however, could produce hydrogen using electricity generated by renewable sources, such as solar, wind and hydro energy, or by carbon-neutral sources, such as nuclear energy.
· And even if fossil fuels were used for electrolysis, the higher efficiency and better emissions controls of large power plants could give hydrogen fuel cells an advantage over less efficient and more polluting gasoline and diesel engines in millions of vehicles and other applications.
According to the researchers, their technology, called “noble metal-free nitrogen-rich carbon nanotubes,” efficiently catalyzes the hydrogen evolution reaction with activities close to that of platinum. They also function well in acidic, neutral or basic conditions, allowing them to be coupled with the best available oxygen-evolving catalysts that also play crucial roles in the water-splitting reaction.
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