Processing plastic into graphene with the release of pure hydrogen. Free Technical Library News

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Recycling plastic into graphene with the release of pure hydrogen

13.09.2023

The problem of environmental pollution from plastic waste continues to require new solutions, motivating scientists around the world to look for innovative ways to combat this environmental threat. However, what if plastic could be made into a valuable resource rather than just waste? This question remains open, but scientists from Rice University in the US are proposing a unique solution that could change the plastic industry and make it more environmentally sustainable.

A team of scientists from Rice University's Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering has developed a technology to convert waste plastic into valuable graphene, releasing pure hydrogen in the process. Hydrogen is considered one of the potential fuels of the future, since its combustion can provide high levels of energy and only produce ordinary water as a byproduct. This makes hydrogen cleaner than refined petroleum and more convenient as a vehicle fuel than electric batteries, which require a long charge.

It should be noted that hydrogen is already used in industry, but current methods of its production are associated with carbon dioxide emissions, and for every ton of hydrogen, 10 to 12 tons of carbon dioxide are produced.

The new method developed by the scientists involves a technology known as "pulsed Joule heating". By passing a short electrical pulse through the plastic, which instantly heats up to 2,5 thousand degrees Celsius due to the resistance of the current, carbon atoms are bonded into the graphene structure, and hydrogen atoms are released as a pure gas.

Despite the need to further reduce the cost of production, this method has the potential to change the game, allowing for more efficient recycling of plastic waste, the production of green hydrogen and the creation of graphene, which on the market costs between $60 and $200 per ton.

Kevin Vis, one of the authors and a chemist, said: "Our method reduces CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions from hydrogen production by 84% compared to existing industrial steam methane reforming methods." This approach could be the key to a cleaner, more sustainable future energy and plastic waste management.

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Laser cooling 29.11.2015

Scientists from the University of Washington (USA) for the first time managed to cool water using an infrared laser that generates thermal energy.

When atoms are irradiated with a laser beam, photons can sometimes be reflected back at a higher frequency, which requires additional energy from thermal vibrations of atoms. As a result, the laser will cool the substance instead of the usual heating.

Such systems are known to science, but they could not be used to work in a liquid medium due to specific conditions. Usually, water absorbs infrared radiation and heats up, and to avoid this, American physicists made a special crystal from fluorine, lithium, yttrium and ytterbium.

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The new technology of laser cooling of liquids can be useful in the field of precision electronics and in the medical field.

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