Scientists in the Netherlands say they've found a more energy-efficient cooling method for hydrogen that avoids using rare-earth materials. Their findings could pave the way for more widespread use of hydrogen to power airplanes or cars.
University of Groningen researchers published the study in the Nature Communications journal. They detailed their magnetocaloric cooling method's ability to liquefy hydrogen, as Tech Explorist explained.
First, the scientists hoped to tackle liquefying hydrogen in a more energy-efficient fashion. Doing so will be important to facilitating hydrogen as a widespread fuel source for industrial use and enabling excess storage, per a news release on the study.
However, cooling the hydrogen to -253 degrees Celsius or 20 degrees Kelvin (-423 degrees Fahrenheit) to liquefy it using conventional techniques requires energy-intensive processes and polluting refrigerant gases.
The scientists thus innovated on an alternative method using magnetic refrigeration and magnetocaloric materials. The method involves transferring heat from the materials to a heat sink via strategic use of a magnetic field.
While researchers have successfully used that method before, they've used rare-earth materials to do so. Mining those elements is highly energy-intensive and can detract from the environmental gains of the whole process.
That's what makes the scientists' bespoke solution using earth-abundant elements an exciting development.
"Our material, or a future variant of it, could probably reduce the cost and improve the environmental friendliness of this cooling technology," the authors said in the news release.
Clean energy advocates have high hopes for the hydrogen economy to play a major role in tackling the world's energy challenges. One huge benefit of hydrogen fuel is that when it burns, it doesn't pollute and warm the planet. Rather it converts harmlessly into water vapor and steam.
That explains why hydrogen boats, planes, and cars are emerging globally. A recent futuristic rescue truck even traveled a world-record 1,800 miles without refueling, illustrating the possibilities of the tech.
Finding ways to unlock "green hydrogen" that isn't reliant on dirty energy to produce will be central to the clean energy's growth. Researchers and companies are at work pursuing green hydrogen production.
Similarly, finding more efficient ways to liquefy and store the energy will be critical to industrial use cases.
The scientists alluded to further improvements that can be made on their solution in meeting those challenges.
"We expect that there is still room for improving the magnetocaloric properties, for instance by incorporating transition metals with larger magnetic moments," they wrote in the study.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
