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Contents
What is the News?
Researchers at IIT-Bombay have discovered a new way of producing hydrogen by using magnetized catalysts during electrolysis. This process lowers energy consumption in the process.
Hydrogen as a fuel:
- Hydrogen as a fuel has a critical role to play in driving the paradigm shift towards a green and sustainable economy.
- It is completely non-polluting and has about three-fold higher calorific value compared to non-renewable energy sources such as coal and gasoline.
Read more: Green Hydrogen – The Fuel of the Future
Production of Hydrogen:
- The simplest way to produce hydrogen is by using electrolysis where water is split into its constituent elements, hydrogen, and oxygen.
- But this method requires high energy input and is associated with a slow rate of hydrogen production.
- Moreover, the use of expensive platinum and iridium-based catalysts also discourages it for widespread commercialization.
- Therefore, the transition to “green-hydrogen-economy” demands approaches that lower the energy and material costs and simultaneously improve the hydrogen production rate.
- Hence, to solve this, researchers at IIT Bombay have come up with an innovative route that provides viable solutions to all these challenges.
What did researchers develop?
- The researchers have developed a method that involves the electrolysis of water in the presence of an external magnetic field.
- This method results in 19% less energy consumption and three times more hydrogen production.
