How does platinum split hydrogen

Hydrogen gas H2 adsorbs "sticks" to platinum metal, which causes the H-H bond to break as two H-Pt bonds form. The thing that makes platinum such a good catalyst for this process is that it binds hydrogen gas strongly enough, but not too strongly.

Metals that have weaker interactions with hydrogen gas will not be as effective because the first step won't happen often enough adsorption of hydrogen gas and metals that bind hydrogen gas too strongly will not release the products, also resulting in lower rate.

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Learn more. Why is platinum used as a catalyst in fuel cell electrodes and elsewhere? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 9 months ago. Active 5 years, 6 months ago. Viewed 13k times. Improve this question. Lucas Lucas 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 4 4 bronze badges.

An additional benefit is that our nickel-iron electrode can catalyse both the hydrogen and oxygen generation, so not only could we slash the production costs by using Earth-abundant elements, but also the costs of manufacturing one catalyst instead of two. It also remains to be seen whether countries like Australia can get enough solar or wind power generators built to be exporters of truly "green" hydrogen at a scale that could make a meaningful dent in Tokyo or Seoul's smog levels.

Or indeed if such export-hungry countries will regret shipping large amounts of their water overseas in the form of fuel. Until the rubber meets the road on an international hydrogen supply chain, a healthy degree of skepticism appears to be warranted. Source: University of New South Wales.

LOG IN. Menu HOME. Search Query Submit Search. By Loz Blain. Facebook Twitter Flipboard LinkedIn. Researchers have come up with a cheaper, more efficient way to split hydrogen out of water. View 1 Image. Loz Blain. Loz has been one of our most versatile contributors since , and has since proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer and podcast engineer, as well as a senior features writer. Joining the team as a motorcycle specialist, he's covered just about everything for New Atlas, concentrating lately on eVTOLs, hydrogen, energy, aviation, audiovisual, weird stuff and things that go fast.

Popular Stories. Load More. Sign in to post a comment. Please keep comments to less than words. No abusive material or spam will be published. George Kafantaris December 17, AM. Not going to indulge the naysayers anymore -- done that long enough.

Pedal to the metal and full speed ahead. I still believe using sunlight to produce formic acid from plastic, transport the formic acid which is liquid under normal condition and use the formic in fuel cells to produce electricity and rehydrogenate the carbon dioxide to make more formic acid is more energy efficient. But what about the structure of Pt and similar metals allows them to adsorb so well I believe remains less well understood. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why does hydrogen give up its electron to a platinum catalyst? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 6 months ago. Active 2 years, 2 months ago. Viewed 1k times. Any helpful directions to figuring this out would be appreciated. Improve this question.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. So, in effect platinum is just an electron carrier between hydrogen and oxygen.