Cheap fuel cells real soon?

[Playinghardball]

Scientists have come up with a more efficient way to split ocean water and turn it into sustainable, clean hydrogen fuel. They created a flexible plastic film that acts as the catalyst to begin splitting ocean water, without requiring the high energy input that current methods need. Using this new technology, as little as five litres of sea water per day would produce enough hydrogen to power an average-sized home and an electric car."

Read more: http://bit.ly/15VshJH

[Logical]

1. Why only sea water? n-t

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Not *only* seawater, but seawater is more abundant.

Other processes normally produce chlorine from chloride in seawater. This one does not (or so the claim goes).

[Half-Century Man]

3. Easier to split mineralized water

than pure water. Thats been one of the problems. Pure water conducts electricity differently, so greater amperage is needed. But splitting mineralized water leaves the minerals behind.
It is more efficient if you can split all of the water at or very near the point of combustion. If you split in a water vessel, pressure issues come up (pressure vs conversion to gas). As well as having to separate gases at some point and store them. Driving around with a high pressure tank of volatile Hydrogen gas might not be a good idea.

[Logical]

4. Thanks! n-t

[Half-Century Man]

5. No Prob

Browns Gas (electrically split water molecules) was my thesis paper for Chemistry.

[kristopher]

6. That isn't a cheap fuel cell - it's cheaper hydrogen

As it is there are a lot of efficient ways of splitting water to release the hydrogen.

A cheaper/better fuel cell membrane to recombine the hydrogen with oxygen is the area we are looking for improvements in.