Metal substrate enhanced hydrogen production of aluminum fed liquid phase Ga-In alloy inside aqueous solution

Hydrogen is a kind of promising clean energy with huge potential values for human being. Developing a convenient real-time and on-demand hydrogen production and utilization method is critical for its wide practices. Liquid metal was recently found to be able to easily activate aluminum in aqueous solution to continuously and quickly generate hydrogen at room temperature, and thus provides a straightforward hydrogen production way. To further improve this technology, we are dedicated here to investigate the effects of the container substrate on such hydrogen generation process. An interesting phenomenon was found that metal substrate material would evidently enhance the hydrogen generation rate. For conceptual illustration purpose, comparative experiments were conducted to demonstrate the different hydrogen evolution modes between the present method and former approach, and the enhancement mechanism lying behind was revealed. In addition, the influence of the surface roughness of the substrate on the hydrogen production performance was also clarified. The present finding would help motivate an improved extremely simple, straightforward and low cost way for the liquid metal assisted aluminum hydrogen production.