PI: Y.H. Percival Zhang

University: Virginia Tech

Research Partner: Dr. Jonathan Mielenz
Research Partner Laboratory: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Title: Novel High-Yield Hydrogen Production from Polysaccharides Artificial Enzymatic Pathway

Abstract:

Abundant, clean, and carbon-neutral hydrogen is widely believed to be a promising future energy carrier; high energy efficiency can be achieved via fuel cells. There is an increasing interest in using energy-rich biomass as a feedstock for the production of renewable fuels such as hydrogen, but so far all methods for doing so have been plagued with low energy yields, severe reaction conditions, and complex processing requirements, e.g., direct gasification of polysaccharides; direct glucose chemical catalysis; anaerobic fermentations; and ethanol fermentation followed by ethanol reforming. Furthermore, the lack of high-density hydrogen storage technologies and the relevant infrastructure for hydrogen storage and distribution prohibits realization of the hydrogen economy.

Recently, we invented a new technology for producing hydrogen from sugars (starch and cellulose). The idea is to utilize energy stored in sugars to break water and release energy in the form of hydrogen by a number of enzymatic reactions. This work was based on my previous work published in PNAS 2005 and ORNL's work published in Nature 2000. The provisional patent has been filed jointly by Virginia Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in May 2006.

Publications Produced from this research: High-Yield Hydrogen Production from Starch and Water by a Synthetic Enzymatic Pathway

Dr. Zhang and his colleagues have also applied for a patent on this technology.