{"id":36575,"date":"2023-08-24T14:40:43","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=36575"},"modified":"2023-08-24T14:40:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:40:43","slug":"new-graphene-permeability-discovery-lead-green-hydrogen-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/new-graphene-permeability-discovery-lead-green-hydrogen-production\/36575\/","title":{"rendered":"New graphene permeability discovery could lead to green hydrogen production"},"content":{"rendered":"
A decade ago, scientists from the University of Manchester revealed graphene\u2019s permeability to protons \u2013 the nuclei of hydrogen atoms.<\/p>\n
The revelation that graphene is permeable to protons was unexpected and started a debate in the community. This is because it had long been theorised that it would take billions of years for a proton to permeate through graphene\u2019s dense crystalline structure.<\/p>\n
The discovery raised questions about the permeability of graphene, leading to suggestions that protons permeate through pinholes in the structure \u2013 not through the crystal lattice itself.<\/p>\n
Now, in a paper published in Nature<\/em><\/a>, a collaboration between the University of Warwick, led by Professor Patrick Unwin, and the University of Manchester, led by Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo and Professor Andre Geim, has reported ultra-high spatial resolution measurements of proton transport through graphene.<\/p>\n This proves that perfect graphene crystals are permeable to protons.<\/p>\n The team used scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) to measure minute proton currents collected from nanometre-sized areas. This enabled the researchers to visualise the spatial distribution of proton currents through graphene membranes.<\/p>\n The currents would be concentrated in a few isolated spots, if proton transport took place through some holes as expected.<\/p>\n However, no isolated spots were found. This ruled out the presence of holes in the graphene membranes.<\/p>\n Dr Segun Wahab and Dr Enrico Daviddi, leading authors of the paper, stated: \u201cWe were surprised to see absolutely no defects in the graphene crystals. Our results provide microscopic proof that graphene is intrinsically permeable to protons.\u201d<\/p>\n The team found that proton currents accelerated around nanometre-sized wrinkles in the crystals. This discovery was unexpected.<\/p>\n The phenomenon occurs when the wrinkles stretch the graphene lattice, providing a larger space for protons to permeate through the pristine crystal lattice.<\/p>\n This observation reconciles the experiment and the theory of graphene permeability.<\/p>\n Dr Lozada-Hidalgo said: \u201cWe are effectively stretching an atomic scale mesh and observing a higher current through the stretched interatomic spaces in this mesh \u2013 this is truly mind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Unwin commented: \u201cThese results showcase SECCM, developed in our lab, as a powerful technique to obtain microscopic insights into electrochemical interfaces, which opens up exciting possibilities for the design of next-generation membranes and separators involving protons.\u201d<\/p>\n Expensive catalysts and membranes which are currently used in hydrogen<\/a> production, sometimes come with a significant environmental footprint.<\/p>\nNo graphene defects were detected by the team<\/h3>\n
The graphene permeability discovery reconciles the experiment and theory<\/h3>\n
The discovery has the potential to assist green hydrogen production<\/h3>\n