News Letter

May 2016Volume2 Issue 3

NanoAuto - Motive

This issue of e-News Letter is dedicated to

MOTHERS on this Mother’s day

Content

₰ Editorial

₰ News Desk

₰ Nano based paints

₰ Nano catalysts

₰ Nano technology for Car

₰ Nanotechnology based future

fuel injector and solid lubricants

₰ Nanotechnology based fuel

cell,battries & supercapacitors

₰ Nanotechnology based electric &

electronic equipment

₰ Nanotech support for alternative

fuel

Editorial

The dominating trend of Nanotechnology is offering multifarious

applications to automobile industry viz (i) reduced weight of cars

that are stronger, (ii) alternative fuel system and nano-catalysts to

reduce air pollution, (iii) nano based fuel injector for increased

wear resistance and nano-solid lubricant to reduce friction, (iv)

nanotechnology based electric and electronic equipments; (v) nano-

layer laminates for car windows to reflect sun & heat but allow

electromagnetic system for telephone etc.(vi) nanotechnology

assisted fuel cell, batteries & super-capacitor for increased

efficiency, (vi) nanotechnology for monitoring, assessing cars own

status and repair damage due to fatigue & fire, and (vii) Nano

based paints & coatings for UV-blocking, antistatic, conductive,

durable, scratch free, smoother, stronger and self-cleaning coats;

to name a few. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the

automotive industries are poised to benefit from nanotechnology

and nanomaterials. No wonder that companies like

Magna International, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Ford, Electrovac, GE,

Synkera and Emil Broll GmbH are pouring money in their nano R&D

efforts.

Nano to drive auto on fast track!!!!!

BMW more than a decade ago realized that

the ability of manipulating atoms at

nanoscale is sure to open new dimensions for

the automotive industry and will put them

on the fast track.

Efforts have already become fruitful in arenas like nano iridescent

coatings, CNT based paints, corrosion protection coating, ultra

precise chemo-mechanical surface polishing, abrasive slurries for

precision finishing coatings, water and dust repellent surface,

photochromic & electrochromic window coatings, and in paints as

well as in electrochromic coatings for window screen or window

surface disinfectants electro conductive polymers (with dispersion of

CNT) for exterior body applications so that body panel can follow

the same electrostatic paint line as the steel components that they

replace, for electrostatically painted, moulded parts to avoid

electrostatic build up. The possibility of list of applying

nanotechnology in automotive goes on and keeps on adding new

developments.

Dr. Madhuri Sharon

Research Director

wcRnb

News Desk

Prof. Maheshwar Sharon appointed as

subject expert for Ph.D. of Tribhuvan

University, Kathmandu, Nepal

Prof. Sharon, his student Dr. Rajaram

Pradhananga and Dr. Rajaram’s student

3 Generations of

Nanotechnology

Welcome to wcRnb:

Our new Nano-Force:

He joined as an Assistant Professor in Walchand Centre for Research

in Nanotechnology & Bio-nanotechnology on March 2016 His area of

research interest is ceramic nanomaterials, conducting polymer

nanomaterials, Nanocomposites, nanocatalyst. He is currently

working on Alumina/Silica nanocatalyst and Bio-nanotechnology.

He has joined as a Junior Research Fellow in Walchand Centre for

Research in Nanotechnology & Bio-nanotechnology on Jan 2016. His

area of research interest is Nanotechnology. He is currently working

on Nano Carbons application in Solar Cells.

Dr. Tayyab Ali (Assist.

Professor)completed his Ph. D in Materials Science

(2016) from Gulbarga University Kalaburagi

(Gulbarga) Karnataka; He is M.Sc.(2011) Gold

medalist, Post graduate diploma in Nanoscience &

Nanotechnology, B.Sc. Biotechnology.

Mr. Ajinkya Kishor Ranade (JRF)completed his M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry (2015)

from R. Ruia College, Mumbai. He has worked as an R

& D Coordinator in Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

He has joined as a Junior Research Fellow in Walchand Centre for

Research in Nanotechnology & Bio-nanotechnology on 4th April 2016.

His area of research interest is Bio-nanotechnology. He is currently

working on Nano water purifier.

Her area of research interest is Bio-nanotechnology. She has been

awarded science Academies summer Research fellowship by IASc-

INSA-NASI in 2014, and worked in IIT-Madras followed by 4 month

internship in IIT- Bombay. Her area of research interest is Bio-

nanotechnology.

Swapnil Raghunath Patil(JRF) completed his B.E

(Biotechnology) in 2015 from M.G.M’s

College of Engineering & Technology,

Kamothe, Navi Mumbai.

Madhu Shree Poddar (JRF)completed her M.Tech (Biotechnology) in 2015

from D.Y. Patil University, Mumbai. She has joined

as a Junior Research Fellow in Walchand Centre for

Research in Nanotechnology & Bio-nanotechnology

on April 2016.

Farewell

“ Our memories of yesterday will last a life time.We’ll take the best , Forget the rest, And someday Will find that These are the best of times ”

Chinmay Phadke(SRF) left for pursuing Ph.D. in Japan

Prerak, Isaac, Farha (JRFs) left for M.Tech in Denmark

M.Sc. Admissions

NANO BASED PAINTS & COATINGS

These early painters used natural substances to make their paints, such

as earth pigments, iron oxides, charcoal, berry juice, lard, blood and

milkweed sap.

Now, it’s the ERA of NANOTECHNOLOGY. Everything is in the grasp of

nanotechnology. Let’s explore the world of nanotechnology in paints and

coatings in Automobile industry.

NANO for car paint consists of two-component mixture based on

nanotechnology. Aqueous and oily liquids transporting contaminants are

simply repelled surfaces so the adhesion of dirt, dead bugs and other

contaminants will be reduced. Sealed car paint becomes easy-to-clean

what means that small dose or none cleaning agent is needed.

Nano-coating protects the bodywork, increases weather and UV

resistance and even reduces corrosion. Our sealant is acid, alkali, water

and alcohol resistant. The car paint remains blemish free for longer and

the need for cleaning will be minimised.

Nano-coating protects the bodywork, increases weather and UV

resistance and even reduces corrosion. Our sealant is acid, alkali, water

and alcohol resistant. The car paint remains blemish free for longer and

the need for cleaning will be minimised.

Paints are meant to fill colours in our lives.

Paints have a long history from pre historic

times. According to history experts, paint

made its earliest appearance approximately

30,000 years ago when cave dwellers used

crude paints to leave behind graphic

depictions of their lives on cave walls.

Scratch Proof Nano Paints - have micron size inorganic fillers

consisting of homogeneously distributed 40 to 60 nm of nano particles

of ZrO2, AlOOH, SiO2, that makes it resistant to scratching. Moreover,

nano particles of alumina protects them from ultra violet radiations

and the unimolecular alumina composite coatings that provide better

surface appearance and more chemical resistance.

Oil repellent Paints – is composed of nano particles of fluro methyl

group along with ammonium poly phosphate and melamine. This

composition reduces chemical and mechanical properties and has the

self-cleaning property.

Durable and Stronger Paints - Nano paints are long lasting. They are

designed to restore, enhance, and extend the surface life of freshly

painted surfaces by 10 years.

Antistatic Nano Paints: Nano paints consists of nanoparticles which

having best conducting properties. It prevents the static build up.

So far nano-coating developed are iridescent coating, CNT based

corrosion protection paints, ultra precise polishing of surface,

transparent coating, fluoro-polymer composites allowing water and

dirt repellent effect, photo-chromic & electro=chromic window

coatings

Swapnil Raghunath Patil

(Junior Research Fellow)

NANO-CATALYST TO REDUCE AUTO-EMISSION: CAUSING AIR POLLUTION

Pollution levels that are increasing day by day need better

developments or technological discoveries immediately.

Nanotechnology offers many advantages to improve existing

environmental technologies and create new technology that is better

than current technology. In this sense, nanotechnology has three main

capabilities that can be applied in the fields of environment, including

the cleanup (remediation) and purification, the detection of

contaminants (sensing and detection), and the pollution prevention.

There are two major Nano technological approaches that reduce air

pollution: caused by automobile emission of fumes

(i) Nano-catalyst to breakdown the polluting chemicals. Catalysts

enhance and enable a chemical reaction without taking part in the

reaction Nanotechnology can improve the performance and cost of

catalysts used to transform vapors escaping from cars or industrial

plants into harmless gasses.

That's because catalysts made from nanoparticles have a greater

surface area to interact with the reacting chemicals than catalysts

made from larger particles.

The issue of environmental pollution has

become a hot issue in today's world. One of the

major air pollutants is auto exhaust system that

releases toxic chemicals in air. It is needless to

say that pollution results not only in the

destruction of biodiversity, but also the

degradation of human health.

The larger surface area allows more chemicals to interact with the

catalyst simultaneously, which makes the catalyst more effective.

Exhaust system along with nanocatalytic converters can reduce or

eliminate the emission of pollutants. Renault Nissan has already

developed a new exhaust cleaning nano catalyst (composed of –

nano size platinum, Rhodium and Palladum) that they are using

petrol powered cars since 2008, This nano-catalyst uses less than

half the metal (Pt) that conventional catalyst uses. These catalyst

react with nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide & hydrocarbons and

convert them into non-toxic nitrogen, carbon dioxide an water.

These nano metals do not cluster at higher temperatures and so

they are capable of maintaining the performance for a longer

duration.

(ii) Nano-structured Membranes and Fillers, which are under

development The use of nano size organic or inorganic fillers have

become ubiquitous in controlling fume emission from automobiles.

Dr. Rakesh Afre

(H.O.D. Nanotechnology)

Some of the key applications include nano-coatings of metallic surfaces

to achieve super-hardening, low friction, and enhanced corrosion

protection; “tailored” materials for the infrastructure and vehicles; and

“smart” nanocomposite materials to monitor and assess their own

current status and repair any defects resulting from fatigue, excessive

fatigue, fire, etc. Contemporary materials designed to have exceptional

properties (stronger, lighter) using materials with nanoscale dimensions

will lead to faster, cheaper, and safer transportation. It will enable

structures and materials to have higher levels of performance, unique

properties and functions that traditional sciences and technologies

could not create. Also various car manufacturers are researching the

possibility of using nanocomposites to create durable, lightweight

materials that can be used in a car body to reduce the weight of the car.

These materials blends nanoparticles with polymers to create

lightweight materials as strong as steel.

The tailored material that could be developed should be scratch-

resistant, lightweight, and rust-proof. It should also make car bodies

tenacious and lighter weight, which translates into a longer car life span

and savings at the gas pump, respectively.

Nanotechnology will be able to yield progressive

materials that will possess properties that in turn will

allow for longer service life and lower failure rates.

Nanomaterials and nano-electronics will yield lighter,

faster, and safer vehicles and more reliable, efficient,

and cost-effective structures and systems.

Application of nanotechnology in car weight reduction to diminish energy consumption and to repair damage due to fatigue and fire

Thanks to nanotechnology, the world's largest steel maker,

ArcelorMittal, says it has come up with a new kind of steel that the

world has never seen before. The company says automakers can now

match the weight of aluminium cars, but do it in steel at far lower

cost. The nano steel itself is not inherently lighter, but it's so strong

that automakers can use thinner gauges and that's where part of the

weight savings comes from. Another part of the weight savings comes

from not having to use additional brackets, gussets or panels to

strengthen the structure.

Nanocomposites composed of traditional polymer reinforced by

nanometre scale particles dispersed throughout, presents an

economical solution to metal replacement. Such nanocomposites (a)

can be moulded into desired shape of the car (b) provide strength

and stiffness (c) reduced weight (d) are corrosion resistant (noise

dampening and (e) can be recycled

Specially adapted nanotech empowered coatings are currently being

applied to race cars and will soon be used in passenger vehicles.

These coatings are designed to control heat transfer in an aspect that

increases horsepower and when applied to engine components. It can

also be applied to the air conditioning system in order to further

curtail fuel consumption. This system from Industrial Nanotech has

been successfully used in race cars in Australia and the USA and is

expected to be adopted in the near future by BMW and Porsche for

their sports cars and by one of the “Big Three” American Automakers.

Madhu Shree Poddar

(Junior Research Fellow)

NANOTECHNOLOGY BASED FUTURE FUEL INJECTOR AND

SOLID LUBRICANTS: A FUEL SAVER AND EMISSION

REDUCER

The modern digital electronic fuel injection system is more capable at

optimizing these competing objectives consistently than earlier fuel

delivery systems such as carburetors.

Nano based Piezo injectors have a few key benefits that justify all of

this bother. For one thing, they open and close much faster than

conventional injectors. That makes for more precise control of the

injection interval, which determines how much fuel is sprayed into the

engine. Piezo units also provide feedback by producing minute

fluctuations in the electricity used to activate them.

Fuel injection became more common from the

1980s onward. The primary difference between

carburetors and fuel injection is that fuel injection

atomizes the fuel through a small nozzle under high

pressure, while a carburetor relies on suction

created by intake air accelerated through a Venturi

tube to draw the fuel into the airstream.

For example, if the engine-control computer

calls for an injector-opening time of 0.5

second, and the injector response shows that

it opened for only 0.496 second, the computer

can add a tiny bit of time to the next

injection cycle to compensate. Such precise

fuel metering makes for improved

combustion, which leads to better fuel

economy and reduced emissions.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have attracted an over whelming

interest from both industry and the research community. These

films offer a wide range of exceptional physical, mechanical,

biomedical and tribological properties that make them

scientifically very fascinating and commercially essential for

numerous industrial applications. Mechanically, certain DLC films

are extremely hard (as hard as 90 GPa) and resilient, while

tribologically they provide some of the lowest known friction and

wear coefficients. Their optical and electrical properties are also

extraordinary and can be tailored to meet the specific

requirements of a given application. Because of their excellent

chemical inertness, these films are resistant to corrosive and/or

oxidative attacks in acidic and saline media.

Nanotechnology-based solid lubricants reduce friction between

moving parts and minimize wear, save maintenance costs and

greatly improve overall machine performance. In addition, it

reduces energy consumption and decreases air pollution. Example

of Nano coating applications/products are new cooling fluids and

ferrofluids. The Barriers are Improvement of Tribological

properties with use of nanomaterials to increase the lifespan of

mechanical components, Cost effectiveness. Possible solutions

through nanomaterials and risks linked are the development of

lubricants in the automobile industry depends on the adhesion of

nanometer layers (mono layers) to a material surface. Assembly

of components can depend critically on the adhesion of materials

at the nanometer length scale, Lubricant-free bearings, and Nano

polymer composites as lubricants. The polymeric materials have

to exhibit good abrasion and wear resistance by mechanical

strength, lightness, ease of processing, versatility and low cost,

together with acceptable thermal and environmental resistances

which are suitable for tribological applications.

The viscoelasticity of polymeric materials demerit this target

and make the analysis of the tribological features and the

processes involved in such phenomena quite complicated.

Hence by accumulating miniature inorganic particles in the

polymer matrices the mechanical properties can be effectively

enhanced.

Nanotechnology based microscopic ball bearing

Nanotechnology-based products, announced that itsNano lubricant, the world’s first commercialnanotechnology-based solid lubricant, was found to benon-toxic in testing performed by Harlan BiotechIsrael Ltd., an accredited testing laboratory forpharmacological toxicity studies, located in Rehovot,Israel. These tests are in addition to excellent resultsobtained from field and beta site tests performed bymajor global lubricants and automotivemanufacturers.

Dr. Tayyab Ali

(Assistant Professor)

NANOTECHNOLOGY BASED FUEL CELL, BATTERIES & SUPERCAPACITORS FOR INCREASED EFFICIENCY

Efforts are being focused on physical entrapping of hydrogen in porous

materials. Physisorption of hydrogen allows fast loading and unloading.

For this purpose Carbon nano materials are being studied with the goal

of solid-phase storage of hydrogen, particularly Single Wall Carbon Nano

Tubes (SWCNT) and Multi Wall Carbon Nano Tubes (MWCNT).

Although interest to fabricate solid-phase hydrogen reservoir using CNTs

are now quenched, emergence of the carbon-based thinnest materials,

i.e. graphene, again revived hopes to have carbon-based hydrogen

storage tanks. Researches on developing high surface area graphene-

based materials are ongoing and more time requires confirming whether

graphene-based nanoporous materials are able to solve the mystery of

the hydrogen storage or not.

Batteries - At the heart of the upcoming automobiles, energy storage

devices play a key role. Batteries are blooming in different markets and

automobile industry is not an exemption. Huge amount of attention has

been attracted towards developing high performance Li-ion batteries

from both academic communities and industrial firms. The efforts are

focused on improving the capacity, safety and the charging rate.

Nanotech based Fuel cells for Automobile -

Automobiles powered by fuel cells are believed to

have considerable market in near future and it is

envisioned about 80 million fuel cell vehicles will

be on the road by 2020. High efficient energy

conversion, safety, high energy density,

nonpolluting are the advantages of employing fuel

cells as energy source for driving a car.

Nanoscopic materials are presumed to have great contribution in the

world’s $56 billion battery market in near future. Nano sizing the

cathode and anode materials are now tremendously followed in

different battery materials. Silicon, one of the most promising anode

materials, may find somewhere in market if researchers could overcome

instability of this materials during charge-discharge process through the

nano-structuring of this element. Different nanostructures of Si such as

nanoparticles, nano-wire, Nano-tube, hierarchical nano-porous

structures, and their composites with nano-carbons have shown to have

exceptionally high capacity and stability raising hopes to have

commercial batteries with Si-based anode. The Li-S batteries may

succeed Li-ion batteries as their energy density is extremely high plus

low cost and density of sulfur.

By an innovative technique through the nano-structuring the sulfur

inside the mesoporous carbon, capacitances near the theoretical limits

were attained. After that, different carbon nanostructures such as

hollow carbon nanofibers, graphene oxide and pyrolyzed PAN/graphene

were used to immobilize sulfur. This class of batteries (Li-S) would find

market in automobile industries as also claimed by Daimler in its

concept vehicles, Mercedes-Benz F125 having exceptional high range of

1000km .

Nanotechnology will make batteries with higher energy densitywhich charge faster than current Li-ion batteries.Thus increasing the efficiency of car owes a lot to Nano-Technology.Supercapacitor - Challenges associated with employing batteries

especially timely recharging, safety and lifetime bring another

electrochemical storage device as candidate for the same purpose, i.e.

Supercapacitor. The fact that Supercapacitor can be charged and

discharged in less than a minute over a million cycles motivates scientific

communities to enhance energy density of Supercapacitor. The concept of

Supercapacitor powered urban bus which recharge at each bus stop in a

minute is another intriguing idea. At the heart of the current EDLCs, nano-

porous carbon acts as electrode. To improve the energy density of

Supercapacitor, different nanomaterials such as MWCNTs, SWCNTs, metal

oxide nanoparticles and conducting polymers have been used. The

emergence of Graphene has revolutionized this field, as this material is

the thinnest imaginable carbon allotrope .The graphene-based pseudo-

capacitors are still in infancy stage, but initial results confirm high

capacity of graphene-based EDLCs having improved energy density. It is

foreseen by 2020, half of graphene’s market (~ $675 million) belongs to

Supercapacitor which clearly illustrate the impact of graphene-based

materials on this field and subsequently on Automobile Industry.

It should be noted that hybrid systems of batteries and Supercapacitor are

identified as the most effective and reliable solution for applications for

Automobile Industries.

This is “Chery Volt”, a plug-in hybrid car, wasintroduced by GM. Theautomaker is trying to usesafer nano-phosphate-basedbatteries.

Ajinkya Kishor Ranade

(Junior Research Fellow)

NANOTECHNOLOGY FORGING HUGE IMPACT TO OUR MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

From the very beginning era of motor vehicles, technology has been

fetching mandatory upgrades to provide a better travelling experience so

is with Nanotechnology.

Today we live in a world with all upgraded mechanics in automobile

industry, Nano-engineering have also shown new pathways to lead.

Electronics play very surprising add-on to flawless hard mechanics, such

as navigation systems, smart human interactive interface, passenger

safety & electronic guided comforts; they bring pace, reliability, accuracy

& comfort to automobile industry. ‘V2V’ Vehicle to Vehicle interaction

system is assuring technology in several aspects of safety, speed &

solace.

Integrated transceiver device circuit attached to both navigation &

human interactive system, transmits & receive radio frequencies from all

nearby details of vehicles in terms of speed, inter vehicular distance,

type, physical condition, movement side on road every 10 times a second.

This advancement also helps in keeping tracks of unwanted and anti-

social activities in check.

We humans demand ever prevailing

developments providing faster, accurate,

reliable & more comfortable lifestyles. Our

mode of transportation is one very essential

part of daily needs. Proving as a boon

‘Nanotechnology’ has paid vital contribution to

this need.

The collected information is gathered in a nearby Data Box with

ability to exchange data with LIDS (Local Information Database

Server); these database servers have satellite communication facility

to forward it to CIDS (central information database server) in real-

time manner. Analytical strategic study brings a new trend to

transportation modes.

Next research in automobiles is ‘Active Window Coats’ as the name

suggests provide strength, durability, heat rays reflectance, dust

proofing, water phobic & electromagnetic friendly environment.

With imposing 3D print technique coating material have even

achieved abilities to harness strict UV radiations & integrated

nanowires through them collect energy into energy packs providing

transceivers power to function efficiently. Another notable lead

through Coats is providing camouflage, effective protect against

poison gas or shrapnel upon contact. This is achieved by implying

biomimetic technology to respond in a particular optical &

mechanical pattern to vivid stimulus, work carried majorly for

defense & war automotive currently.

Active Window Coat depicting three various opticalresponse patterns to responsible stimulus.

One most prominent property for material to be implied as Active

Window Coat is that it must possess high optical transparency so as

to provide maximum visibility to passenger inside. The figure

below shows various acquired optical states by a Carbon Matrix.

Green is its state normal to a particular light stimuli & then visible

three different optical states having 2 contrast colors i.e. Blue &

Green. Blue is the lowest member in visible spectra of white light

& green is the mid member, to three different stimuli Carbon

Matrix coat material responds in three vibrant proportions of the

two colors resulting as possible camouflage options. Moreover

being hydrophobic & dust resistant in nature prevents from

chemical harms as well, in addition being optically active nano

structure most of the electromagnetic radiations can pass through

it with no attenuation to daily communication devices.

Nallin Sharma

(Senior Research Fellow)

ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR VEHICLES - NANOTECH ROLE IF ANY

Amongst them petrol and diesel are the worst enemy of the pollution.

In addition, to the applications of these fuels, there is also a fear that

they may dwindle one day and we shall be left with no source of power

to run these vehicles. Scientists have realized the dark side of the

period when we shall have no such fuel. What then! Foresighted

scientists have to look for the alternative source of energy preferably

which are not related with fossil fuels and are renewable. Luckily we

have located few alternative sources like solar energy, wind energy,

hydropower, geothermal energy and hydrogen energy. It is very

disputable at present which of these alternative sources would really

be able to replace the petrol/diesel or CNG.

Scientists have taken a middle path and searching for a hybrid system

with hydrogen as one of them. It is not only in India, but Clean Air Act

(1990) and the Energy Policy Act (1992), of USA recognized the need for

a long-term transition strategy to cleaner transportation fuels.

Vehicles are the necessities of the present

century but its use creates an environmental

problem, which Delhi State in especial finding it

as insolvable problem. Emission from these

vehicles creates pollution problem to the extent

that visibility on the road is becoming less and

less. Vehicles are using the petrol, diesel oil and

CNG.

How science of nanotechnology will come to rescue the popularity

of hydrogen energy is a big question and if I am not mistaken its

role in developing nanomaterials for the storage of hydrogen may be

the most appropriate area where Nanotechnology may play a big

role.

Why Hydrogen?

Molecular hydrogen is currently receiving the most attention and

financial support as the starting point for fuel cell energy supply. It

is favored because it allows the use of a variety of hydrogen

sources, ranging from coal and natural gas to biomass, solar, wind,

and nuclear energy, as well as a multitude of relatively well

understood manufacturing approaches ranging from small to large

reformers, water-gas-shift reactors, electrolytic devices, thermal

processes, and so on. These areas are necessary to look into

because amount of energy required for splitting water to get

hydrogen needs 1.6V of electrical power but when we use hydrogen

as source of energy maximum energy which we can get is 1.0V. Thus

there is a need to look for alternative sources of energy which is

renewable to supply 0.6 V of deficiency. Hydrogen provides more

energy than either gasoline or natural gas on a weight basis.

Hydrogen has a three times higher specific

energy by mass compared to gasoline (143 MJ/kg versus 46.9

MJ/kg). The enthalpy of combustion of hydrogen is −286 kJ/mol:

2 H2(g) + O2(g) → 2 H2O(l) + 572 kJ (286 kJ/mol)

The hydrogen auto ignition temperature, (i.e. the temperature of

spontaneous ignition in air), is 500 °C.

Pure hydrogen-oxygen flames emit ultraviolet light and with high

oxygen mix are nearly invisible to the naked eye.

The detection of a burning hydrogen leak may require a flame

detector. Hydrogen flames in other conditions are blue, resembling

blue natural gas flames.

How safe is hydrogen?

Hydrogen is lighter than air and diffuses rapidly. Hydrogen has a rapid

diffusivity (3.8 times faster than natural gas), which means that when

released, it dilutes quickly into a non-flammable concentration.

Hydrogen rises 2 times faster than helium and 6 times faster than

natural gas at a speed of almost 45 mph (20m/s). Therefore, unless a

roof, a poorly ventilated room or some other structure contains the

rising gas, the laws of physics prevent hydrogen from lingering near a

leak (or near people using hydrogen-fueled equipment). Industry

takes these properties into account when designing structures where

hydrogen will be used. The designs help hydrogen escape up and away

from the user in case of an unexpected release.

Like any flammable fuel, hydrogen can combust. But hydrogen’s

buoyancy, diffusivity and small molecular size make it difficult to

contain and create a combustible situation. In order for a hydrogen

fire to occur, an adequate concentration of hydrogen, the presence of

an ignition source and the right amount of oxidizer (like oxygen) must

be present at the same time. Hydrogen has a wide flammability range

(4- 74% in air) and the energy required to ignite hydrogen is 0.02mJ .

Hydrogen combustion primarily produces heat and water. Due to the

absence of carbon and the presence of heat-absorbing water vapor

created when hydrogen burns, a hydrogen fire has significantly less

radiant heat compared to a hydrocarbon fire. Since the flame emits

low levels of heat near the flame, the risk of secondary fires is low.

In figure-1A it is observed that when hydrogen driven car gets fire, the

flame rises up in the sky without creating any damage to the car,

while petrol driven car when gets fire, entire car get under fire

causing large damage (Figure1B)

Difficulties in detecting hydrogen

Hydrogen is odorless, colorless and tasteless, so most human senses

won’t help to detect a leak. However, since hydrogen has tendency

to raise quickly, a hydrogen leak indoors would briefly collect on the

ceiling and eventually move towards the corners and away from

where any nose might detect it. For that and other reasons, industry

often uses hydrogen sensors to help detect hydrogen leaks. Natural

gas is also odorless, colorless and tasteless, but industry adds a

sulfur-containing odorant, called mercaptan, to make it detectable

by people. Researchers are investigating other methods to detect

hydrogen. Addition of any carbonseous compound to hydrogen will

create the danger of spreading fire. Hence, some detector has to be

developed for hydrogen detection.

Hydrogen production

Commercial bulk hydrogen is usually produced by the steam

reforming of natural gas. At high temperatures (1000–1400 K, 700–

1100 °C), steam (water vapor) reacts with methane to yield carbon

monoxide and H2. The product mixture is known as "synthesis gas"

CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2

(A) A hydrogen driven car made to catch fire. Its flamedirectly points towards sky leaving car almost safe (B) agasoline driven car made to catch fire and the enter car isunder fire and could even damage the passengers.

Electrolysis of water yield hydrogen and oxygen. Though this method

is simple but is most expensive since the energy input required for

water splitting is higher than the energy that could be obtained from

the produced hydrogen. The heat energy (the additional energy

needed to electrolyze water) can be provided from a number of

different sources, including waste industrial heat, nuclear power

stations or concentrated solar thermal plants.

Various thermo-chemical cycles have been thought of to produce

hydrogen. The chemical cycle is developed such that the added

chemicals, which support the reactions, are not consumed in the

production of hydrogen. We only supply water and required heat to

get hydrogen. For example, the sulfur-iodine cycle (S-I cycle)

generates hydrogen from water with an efficiency of approximately

50%. The sulfur and iodine used in the process are recovered and

reused, and not consumed by the process. The cycle requires a

temperature of 950oC which can be provided by concentrating solar

power on to the system.

Hydrogen transportation

Hydrogen exist as liquid hydrogen, gaseous hydrogen or hydrogen

adsorbed in some suitable material like carbon nanotubes, or some

specific metal hydrides. Thus hydrogen can be transported in any of

these forms. However liquid hydrogen requires cryogenic storage and

boils around 20.268 K (−252.882 °C). Hence, its liquefaction imposes

a large energy loss (as energy is needed to cool it down to that

temperature). The tanks must also be well insulated to prevent boil

off. Adding insulation increases cost (Figure 2). Compressed hydrogen

has good energy density by weight, but poor energy density by

volume; hence it requires a larger tank to store. Increasing gas

pressure would improve the energy density by smaller volume

(Figure2) .Compressed hydrogen costs 2.1% of its energy to power

the compressor.

Storage of hydrogen

Storage of hydrogen has been possible by filling a cylinder with gas

under very high pressure, liquefying hydrogen and storing it in

cryogenic condition or storing by adsorption in some materials like

carbon nano tube or in form of metal hydride. None of these methods

till date have been found to be the most economical and hence all of

these methods are being researched into. One important constraint

has been about the amount of energy needed to store them in a

particular form vis-à-vis amount of energy released by hydrogen

stored in that system. For example, the electrical energy needed to

compress hydrogen to 5000 psi is 4 to 8 percent of its energy content,

depending on the starting pressure. The process of liquefying

molecular hydrogen consumes up to 40 percent of the energy content.

Cost of material used for storing is also an additional cost added to

hydrogen cost. Therefore, actual energy released from hydrogen

becomes less than what one would otherwise obtained from hydrogen.

It would be difficult to discuss all forms by which hydrogen can be

stored. We shall discuss mainly about the application of carbon

nanomaterials (i.e. nano-structured materials) for storing hydrogen.

(A) Liquid hydrogen stored in a cryogenic vessel carriedby truck (B) Hydrogen gas compressed in two metalcylinders.

Nanostructured materials have unique and tunable properties which are

much more suited to this application. Research teams around the world

have hunted down nanomaterials which are capable of storing hydrogen

at high densities. The key is to find a material which has controllable

hydrogen affinity, and can absorb and release its full capacity of fuel in

the shortest time possible.

Single-wall carbon nano tubes (SWNTs) are capable of adsorbing

hydrogen quickly, to high density, at ambient temperatures and

pressures and when optimized, hydrogen storage densities up to 7 wt%

can be achieved. As per the D.O.E., energy density goals for vehicular

hydrogen storage systems should be 6.5 wt % H2 (62 kg H2/m3). Sharon

and his research group have observed that carbon nanofibers from

cotton fibers after some specific chemical activation can store hydrogen

to the extent of 13.3wt%, which is almost twice more than minimum

storage capacity suggested by DOE, USA. It has also been reported that

the results reported by one group has not been able to be reproduced by

other laboratories and researchers are trying hard to find this lacuna.

Sharon and has research group have lately observed that one of the

factor for this illusion is the method used for determining the density of

carbon. They reported that same carbon material if its density is

determined by conventional water displacement method the hydrogen

adsorption come to 1-2 wt% while if density is determined by tapping

method, the hydrogen adsorption values comes to 8 wt%. Hence they

have suggested to develop a hydrogen storage calculation which does

not need the density of carbon.

Hydrogen vehicle

A hydrogen vehicle uses hydrogen as its fuel .There is two basic way a

hydrogen car operates. Hydrogen gas or liquid hydrogen is allowed to

pas to the slightly modified so called carburetor where it burns in

presence of air/oxygen giving power.

Another type of hydrogen car uses direct electricity produced from a

fuel cell operating on hydrogen air/oxygen. In this car there is no

carburetor, electric motor instead is used. Automobile industries have

produced hydrogen driven vehicle operating on both of these types.

Time will tell which of them will become economical. There are

different types of fuel cells, but considering the temperature variations

for places the car would be used alkaline fuel cell is being thought to

be the best type of cell and may become economical as well. But

these fuel cells are relatively expensive to produce electrical energy as

their designs require catalyst for the reduction of oxygen and for the

oxidation of hydrogen. These catalysts are from rare substances such

as platinum. Researchers are finding some other non-noble metals as a

catalyst for such fuel cells. Till we do not get some cheap metal

catalyst cost of fuel cells will remain high. Many automobile

companies like Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell, Honda FCX Clarity, Hyundai

ix35 FCEV and Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell are developing car working

on hydrogen. Buses, trains, PHB bicycles, canal boats, cargo bikes, golf

Hydrogen driven vehicles (A) Bus (B) motorcycles (C)airplane

carts, motorcycles, wheelchairs, ships, airplanes, submarines, rockets

etc. are already running on hydrogen, in various forms(Figure 3). ISRO

has been using hydrogen for their space vehicles.

It is suggested that a car loaded with solar power can electrolyze

water to generate hydrogen and oxygen which can be used to burn it

in the IC engine generating power and non pullulating water. A record

for a hydrogen-powered vehicle is 460 km/h set by Ohio State

University's Buckeye Bullet in August 2008. Toyota launched its first

production fuel cell vehicle, in Japan in 2014 . The car has a range of

500 km and takes about five minutes to refill its hydrogen tank.

Charles Freese, GM's executive director of global power train

engineering, stated in 2010 that the company believes that both fuel-

cell vehicles and battery electric vehicles are needed for reduction of

greenhouse gases and reliance on oil (Figure 4 ). Tata

Motors and ISRO have already developed a hydrogen bus which is being

tested in India. The bus is expected to get on road in 2015.

Hydrogen fuel station where car working on hydrogencould be filled

Criticisms

It is good to know the views of critics but we should only take it as a

warning and not as a matter of fact. Every system developed in past has

always met large critics but it never stopped the developments such as

computer, space research etc.

Critics claim the time frame for overcoming the technical and economic

challenges to implementing wide-scale use of hydrogen cars is likely to

last for at least several decades, and hydrogen vehicles may never

become broadly available. Experts say it will be 40 years or more before

hydrogen has any meaningful impact on gasoline consumption or global

warming, and we can't afford to wait that long. It also being suggested

that a hydrogen car may be one of the least efficient, most expensive

way to reduce greenhouse gases. The Economist magazine (2014) states

that most hydrogen is produced through steam reformation, which

creates at least as much emission of carbon per mile as some of today's

gasoline cars.

Prof. Dr. Maheshwar Sharon

(Joint Research Director)

Dr. Mr. & Mrs. Sharon

Dr. Rakesh Dr. Tayyab

NallinChinmay

IsaacSwapnil

Prerak Ajinkya

Farha Madhu Shree