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Piezo Crystals Harness Sound To Generate Hydrogen

Posted by timothy on from the what's-shakin'? dept.

MikeChino writes "Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that a mix of zinc oxide crystals, water, and noise pollution can efficiently produce hydrogen without the need for a dirty catalyst like oil. To generate the clean hydrogen, researchers produced a new type of zinc oxide crystals that absorb vibrations when placed in water. The vibrations cause the crystals to develop areas with strong positive and negative charges — a reaction that rips the surrounding water molecules and releases hydrogen and oxygen. The mechanism, dubbed the piezoelectrochemical effect, converts 18% of energy from vibrations into hydrogen gas (compared to 10% from conventional piezoelectric materials), and since any vibration can produce the effect, the system could one day be used to generate power from anything that produces noise — cars whizzing by on the highway, crashing waves in the ocean, or planes landing at an airport."

15 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. This SOUNDS Like A Breakthrough! by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Funny

    But can it produce enough electricity to power a small radio that plays the music used to create the vibrations necessary to produce the electricity?

    1. Re:This SOUNDS Like A Breakthrough! by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Funny

      No.

      Sincerely yours,

      The Second Law of Thermodynamics

      But isn't the First Law of Thermodynamics to never talk about the Second Law of Thermodynamics?

    2. Re:This SOUNDS Like A Breakthrough! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2, Funny

      But can it produce enough electricity to power a small radio that plays the music used to create the vibrations necessary to produce the electricity?

      Only if you are willing to listen to Barry White all the time...
      You'll never find,
      another vibe like mine,
      to shake those crystals,
      the way I do...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    3. Re:This SOUNDS Like A Breakthrough! by MadKeithV · · Score: 3, Funny

      Typical for you Americans, always assuming the rest of world has the same Laws of Thermodynamics.

    4. Re:This SOUNDS Like A Breakthrough! by thhamm · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, because in Soviet Russia, Laws of Thermodynamics violate YOU!

  2. But Mom... by voss · · Score: 4, Funny

    "If we dont play it at full volume we wont be able to save the enviroment!" ;-)

  3. Car Troubles... by cobryce · · Score: 5, Funny

    The next time you see someone screaming at their car on the side of the road, they might just be fueling up ;)

  4. Re:Fuck you /. elitists by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2, Funny

    Give me the option to have -1 given emphasis and leave me to post as much as I fuckin' like down here, you google-dick-sucking fucktards.

    Um, not to be one of those self-absorbed, uninformed heavily biassed assholes, but I believe the first 'G' in google in you google-dick-sucking fucktards should be capitalized.

    you Google-dick-sucking fucktards.

    There, FTFY. Have a nice day.

  5. Re:Cost Effective? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If it's cheap, can it be incorporated into bedsprings?

  6. Re:Cost Effective? by tms827 · · Score: 4, Funny

    If it's cheap, can it be incorporated into bedsprings?

    I get the feeling that it would be of extremely limited use to the /. community if it were

    --
    Take everything I say with a huge grain of salt. I don't know everything, and don't want to give the impression I do
  7. Re:Sounds to me like ... by ardle · · Score: 2, Funny

    "If this bus goes below 150 dB, we're dead".
    I suppose it'd be called "Volume", and the next one "Volume 2".

  8. Re:Thermodynamics by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Funny

        I can just see the headlines now. "1,000 dead as 1 mile of I-900 explodes into flames."

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  9. Ah, Zinc Oxide... by Dr.+Manhattan · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...is there anything it can't do?

    --
    PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
  10. Re:Cost Effective? by Genda · · Score: 4, Funny

    Au Contraire, I'm certain the /. readers have already taken this problem into their own hands...

  11. Fuel from sound? Not to be sexist, but.... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 2, Funny

    Women with their "silent-but-deadlies" won't get as good gas mileage as men.

    --
    Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"