Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have been doing this project and I was wondering if the end product is actual hydrogen fuel or is the experiment is just proving efficiency of cobalt catalyst. Thanks

Hi Davidyeong88,

I'm not sure what you mean by "end product". Are you asking what the point of the project is? Or are you asking the products of the chemical reaction in the experiment are? The data that you collect during this project lets you assess how the presence of a cobalt catalyst changes the efficiency of the water splitting reaction. Does that answer your question?

Hi Davidyeong88,

The chemical reaction you are describing appears to be the synthesis of H2 and 02 from water. The reaction harvests H2 by splitting water molecules into its components. Using a catalyst, the reaction can be sped up and require less energy. For the most part, platinum has been used to split water, but it quite expensive. Cobalt is a rising alternative. To answer your question, good old H2 is produced, which can be used to generate electricity; when hydrogen and oxygen combine, they form bonds and release energy; this is called an exothermic reaction.

It seems you need to develop stronger hypothesis. It seems that the point of your experiment is to compare the efficiency of the cobalt with other catalysts, to prove that the cobalt is more efficient.

Also, I found some links if you would like to read further about how hydrogen is used indirectly as fuel.
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info ... ogen-fuel/
http://www.gizmag.com/cambridge-hydroge ... yst/25723/

-Chris