BLACKSBURG, Va. (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says he has developed a technology that can convert plant sugars into hydrogen to be used in hydrogen-fueled cars.
Virginia Tech Assistant Professor Percival Zhang says the process involves combining plant sugars, water and a cocktail of powerful enzymes to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide under mild reaction conditions.
"This is revolutionary work," said Zhang. "This has opened up a whole new direction in hydrogen research. With technology improvement, sugar-powered vehicles could come true eventually."
Zhang and colleagues said they believe they can produce hydrogen from cellulose, which has a similar chemical formula to starch, but is far more difficult to break down.
In laboratory studies, the scientists collected 13 different, well-known enzymes and combined them with water and starches inside a specially designed reactor. The resulting broth reacted to produce only carbon dioxide and hydrogen, with no leftover pollutants. However, they said the amount of hydrogen produced was too low for commercial use and the speed of the reactions wasn't optimal.
Zhang and colleagues described the system -- called the world's most efficient method for producing hydrogen -- this week in New Orleans during the American Chemical Society's 235th national meeting.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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