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A new way to split water has been developed

28.06.2023

Hydrogen is a promising energy source of the future, provided that its production is environmentally friendly. In addition, hydrogen plays an important role in the production of active ingredients and other significant substances. However, separating water molecules (H2O) into hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen is a difficult task for chemists because water molecules are very stable. For successful splitting of water, it is necessary to activate it with a catalyst, which simplifies the reaction.

A team of researchers led by Professor Armido Studer from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster (Germany) has developed a photocatalytic process in which water is activated through triarylphosphines, and not through transition metal complexes, as is done in most other processes.

This groundbreaking approach, published in the journal Nature, opens the door to active radical chemistry research. Radicals are highly active reaction intermediates. The team successfully uses a special intermediate, the phosphine water radical cation, as an activated form of water from which hydrogen atoms can be easily split off and donated to other compounds. The reaction is controlled by light energy.

"Our system provides an ideal platform for the study of previously unexplored chemical processes, where the hydrogen atom acts as a reactant in synthesis," says Prof. Studer.

Dr. Christian Mück-Lichtenfeld, who carried out the theoretical analysis of activated water, notes: "The hydrogen-oxygen bond in this intermediate product is extremely weak, which allows the transfer of a hydrogen atom to various compounds."

Dr. Jingjing Zhang, who is in charge of experimental research, adds: "Hydrogen atoms activated by water can be transferred to alkenes and arenes under mild conditions, in so-called hydrogenation reactions." Hydrogenation reactions are of great importance in the pharmaceutical industry, agrochemistry and materials science.

This new method of water splitting, developed by a team of researchers, represents a significant advance in the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source and an important component in the chemical industry. It opens the door to more efficient and environmentally friendly processes for producing hydrogen and other compounds from water, contributing to the development of a more sustainable and energy efficient technology.

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Alcohol is not cleaner than gasoline 12.11.2007

Even Henry Ford in 1925 said that the automobile fuel of the future is ethyl alcohol.

Ethanol, unlike gasoline, is a renewable resource, as it can be obtained from plant biomass. And for the first models of Ford cars, both gasoline and alcohol, or any mixture of them, were suitable. Now many cars in Brazil run on pure alcohol or its mixture with gasoline.

But is this replacement good from an environmental point of view? Mark Jacobson, a meteorologist at Stanford University (USA), considered this issue based on the assumption that by 2020 US roads will be dominated by cars running on a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

A computer model showed that the number of cases of asthma will increase by 4-9% in the country. The fact is that there is more formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in the combustion products of alcohol than in the combustion products of gasoline. In addition, these aldehydes have carcinogenic properties. But the gasoline engine emits more other carcinogens - butadiene and benzene than alcohol.

So, in any case, a noticeable improvement in air purity when switching from gasoline to alcohol is not to be expected.

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