Q about current article: On-demand Hydrogen Generation : ACS Nano Letters

[pdxjjb]

Here is the abstract: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl304680w

I would need to pay the $35 so I have not read the full text.

Question: it says "...without Light, Heat, or Electricity." Where is the energy required to split the water molecules coming from?

Jeff

 

[DrDu]

2H2O +Si -> SiO2 +2H2

This reaction is very exothermic due to the high energy of formation of SiO2.

 

[Borek]

In a way it is not much different from using Al/Ga alloy for the same purpose.

 

[pdxjjb]

Thank you both. I foolishly thought they might be claiming some kind of catalysis. I saw the error of my ways soon after posting.