Although hydrogen-powered cars are one of the most ideal forms of transportation, one huge roadblock has kept them from entering the mainstream: Hydrogen is wildly expensive to obtain. One U.S. researcher thinks she may have found the solution: urine.
The most obvious source of hydrogen is water, but it is notoriously difficult to separate hydrogen from the oxygen in water. This is where Gerardine Botte of Ohio University comes in. Using an electrolytic approach, Botte was able to produce hydrogen from urine at a fraction of the cost it takes to obtain hydrogen from water.
Urine is mostly comprised of urea, which has four hydrogen atoms per molecule that are less tightly bonded than the hydrogen in water is to oxygen. Because the hydrogen is less tightly bonded, Botte was able to develop an inexpensive, nickel-based electrode and separate the hydrogen out of the urine using a voltage of only 0.37 volts--much less than the 1.23 volts needed to split hydrogen from water.
Botte and her group used "synthetic urine" made from dissolved urea the first time around, but had the same results when performing the experiment with human urine. The group is currently conducting long-term stability studies on their electrolysis systems and conducting computation experiments to better understand the mechanisms at work, according to Chemistry World.
If Botte is able to perfect her electrolysis system and better understand the reactions she has discovered, hydrogen cars like the Honda FCX Clarity may not be as infeasible for the masses as some perceive them to be.
Source: Chemistry World