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A Korean research team has made a potential breakthrough in the clean energy debate by discovering that icy organic hydrates can create and trap hydrogen atoms.
The research team, led jointly by Lee Huen of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Kang Young-soo of Sogang University, said Sunday that freezing water with a small amount of organic matter creates a nanometer (one billionth of a meter) of vacant space where hydrogen atoms can be stored safely. In contrast, pure water does not create this empty space when frozen alone.
The research was published in the ¡°Editor¡¯s Choice¡± section of the July 11 issue of leading industry magazine Science.
Generating electricity when combined with oxygen to leave water as its by-product, hydrogen is widely touted as a clean energy source. But it is difficult to commercialize, because it must be stored at an ultra-low temperature or under ultra-high pressure.
Prof. Lee said, ¡°It is an economical, eco-friendly way of storing hydrogen, since water is used as a medium.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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