Applied Chemical Engineering

Sustainable Hydrogen with Value-added Oxygen

Submission deadline: 2023-09-30
Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

As we face a global energy crisis and increasing environmental concerns, hydrogen as a fuel has emerged as a sustainable solution with the potential to transform the energy dynamics of the world. From internal combustion engines to fuel cell-powered electric vehicles to innovative applications of hydrogen as a fuel are being announced at a rapid pace.

Several corporates have announced projects for hydrogen at less than one US dollar per kilo. Indian Railways have announced their intent for solar power generators mounted on the rooftop of trains to electrolyze water and store the hydrogen to transport the train. The potential for hydrogen to revolutionize the transportation sector is fast becoming a reality.

But these initiatives look ambitious. In all cases, the by-product - oxygen, eight times more than hydrogen by weight, is lost to the atmosphere. To make these processes sustainable, there must be a value addition to oxygen right when hydrogen is generated. The production of sodium hydroxide and chlorine is associated with hydrogen production. Similarly, the production of sodium chlorate also produces four molecules of hydrogen by electrolysis of sodium chloride. In the later case, oxygen produced at the electrode is catalytically used up to produce oxide of chlorine.

Research and review papers that effectively use the by-product oxygen in a catalytic or electrocatalytic process to value-added products should be invited for the special issue -  Oxidation of hydrocarbons to alcohols, aldehydes, and acids, phenol to quinone, and catechol. Inorganic chemicals of large volume can also be considered. 

The processes should be scalable to sizes commensurate to the hydrogen required as fuel. 

Planned Papers

Keywords

energy crisis; hydrogen production; fuel cell; sustainable

Published Paper