New class of compounds
TODAY'S SO-CALLED `petroleum economy' relies heavily on fossil fuels for energy. In a `hydrogen economy,' however, electricity to power vehicles and for the power grid could be produced with much cleaner technologies using hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, as a fuel.
Storing this fuel, however, presents tremendous challenges, including finding a solid that efficiently `soaks up and holds' hydrogen and then releases it on demand.
Researchers have synthesized a new class of aluminium-hydrogen compounds with a unique chemistry that could lead to the development of more powerful solid rocket fuel and may also, in time, be useful for hydrogen-powered vehicles or other energy applications.
Through combined theoretical and experimental study, the team created this new class of aluminium/hydrogen molecules (called `hydrides') that are relatively stable and are similar in structure to boranes, which are composed of boron and hydrogen atoms, according to a Johns Hopkins University press release.
Relative stability
This relative stability may hold the key to the compound's possible future uses in rocket fuel, said team co-leader Kit Bowen, professor at Johns Hopkins.
An article about this research, led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins and Virginia Commonwealth universities, is published in the journal Science.
The team also included scientists at University of Konstanz and University of Karlsruhe, both in Germany.
"It's always tough to predict how things will play out in the future, but our research finding is interesting enough for me to be willing to say that this synthesis may have the potential for some possibly very useful future applications, including the development of solid rocket fuel with more thrust," said Bowen.
Most solid rocket fuels already rely on aluminium as a co-fuel, but the new compounds "might turn out to be more efficient," Bowen said.
— OUR BUREAU
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