Comments on: Just add water: a portable hydrogen fuel cell

By: Jabbah

Jabbah — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:36:51 +0000

Its all about energy density. For the same weight how much can each produce?

By: Jabbah

Jabbah — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:35:24 +0000

All depends on how much hydrogen can be generated from how much nanosilicon powder. If for the same weight as a container able to hold compressed hydrogen you can have as much nanosilicon powder to generate 10x as much hydrogen then the benefits become obvious.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 05:29:05 +0000

do explain.

By: your name

your name — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:13:46 +0000

I think it would be easier to just carry around a loaded hydrogen fuel cell. You aren’t magically generating energy out of nowhere with this.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:49:43 +0000

yeah.. try generating electricity from your Alzheimer’s medicine.. and by simply peeing on it.

Allow me to get (even more) philosophical:
You can’t forget what you do not need ; )

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:12:53 +0000

They’ve got a complaint box, haven’t they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QmSrYEaVb0

But the process would get too inefficient way before you can kill anything, you’d switch to the next plant or your cell would be charged. In fact it would be actually good for the plant and provide some — high intensity perhaps — exercise. (wink) Sorely needed I should add, it doesn’t get any more sedentary than that either.

By: Cloudswrest

Cloudswrest — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:35:20 +0000

I can think of a lot cheaper sources than silicon nano-balls for mixing with water, like, for example, metallic sodium, which I played with a lot in HS. I’m sure it could be productised into a safe and effective device. You could then use the leftover lye to clean your drain.

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:34:06 +0000

…(wink) but who will speak for the trees…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T9vw0jnGOg

By: Bob Vasquez

Bob Vasquez — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:31:36 +0000

The problem is not nanosilicon or an orchic-like fuel cell, etc. The problem is “memory”; the camper forgot his charger!!!

By: Ralph Dratman

Ralph Dratman — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:12:20 +0000

Dehydrated hydrogen? Hmmm.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:12:17 +0000

Worry not, Mr. Russell. I’m designing a orchid like fuel cell you can plug in any PLANT nearby and extract the “juice”. Doesn’t get much cheaper than that =) until extracting directly from vacuum that is.

By: Gorden Russell

Gorden Russell — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:11:03 +0000

Well, I dare say these plastic cartridges of silicon nanopowder will cost more than .50 caliber bullets, but in a combat emergency, the Department of Defense won’t care…but it might be a few more years before there is a hydrogen fuel cell cheap enough for civilian campers, so when out in the forest, I’ll still keep a hand-cranked LED flashlight in my cargo pocket for the near future.

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:36:00 +0000

I was wondering the same. The paper only says that “scalable and energy efficient processes for nanoparticle production must be implemented to expand the potential use of silicon-based H2 generation beyond niche applications. Laser pyrolysis has been demonstrated at kg/h scales, and thus it may be one such process.”

By: cosmowrench

cosmowrench — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:39:47 +0000

Could you tank this in a electric vehicle? How much watts/kg does it contain?