A new catalyst produces hydrogen at low temperatures while simultaneously consuming carbon monoxide — a development that could improve the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction.
Developed by an international team led by scientists at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the new catalyst consists of clusters of gold nano-particles layered on a molybdenum-carbide substrate. The material catalyzes the WGS reaction at 303 K and produces a purer form of hydrogen than conventional hydrogen production methods.
“Carbides are more chemically reactive than oxides, and the gold-carbide interface has good properties for the water-gas shift reaction; it interacts better with water than pure metals,” says José Rodriguez, a chemist at BNL. “Researchers at Peking University discovered a new synthetic method, and that was a real breakthrough,” Rodriguez says. “They found a way to get a specific phase — or configuration of the atoms —...
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