[NewCandle] Hydrogen from aluminum

[Keith Nagel]

Hi All,

I just stumbled across this article about using nanoparticles
of aluminum to generate hydrogen.

http://thefutureofthings.com/news/6541/hydrogen-produced-from-aluminum-and-w
ater.html

I was a bit skeptical of the claim of being able
to regenerate the particles; but still it's an
intriguing methodology that avoids the usual
problem of handling the caustics necessary to
generate H2 from the bulk metal.

Of special interest to us is the discussion of
Lewis acids and bases, and the fact that different
configurations of aluminum atoms can act as either
an anodic or cathodic site.

Here's the researchers homepage

http://research.chem.psu.edu/awcgroup/Castleman%20Homepage.html

I like the 3d periodic table; it's something I've been pushing
for years and now that nanotech is getting serious attention
others seem to be understanding that the old table needs an
additional axis to account for the behavior of clusters of atoms.

K.