Feature
POWERING OUR FUTURE Developing better batteries and alternative power sources is crucial for the future. Cutting-edge research and innovation at Southampton is helping to ensure we get there.
THE HYDROGEN ECONOMY
THERMOELECTRIC OPPORTUNITIES
We currently live in the Carbon Economy. We burn fuels and produce CO2, and we’re living in a carbon cycle. Andrea’s research addresses how we can transition towards a Hydrogen Economy.
Thermoelectricity draws heat from two things and turns that into electricity. It is used in niche areas, but for it to become widespread it needs to be more efficient.
“We want to move away from carbon,” she said. “The ultimate fuel is hydrogen and the ultimate source of that would be water, if you can take the hydrogen out of the water using renewables. There is no carbon in the cycle, which is the game changer.” Hydrogen fuel cells are already used in places such as London buses (pictured right). The only emission is water. But electrolysis – the process of extracting hydrogen from water – remains expensive, plus hydrogen is highly flammable and volatile so needs to be handled and transported with specific precautions. Andrea is working on a project with Johnson Matthey, a sustainable technologies company, to better understand water electrolysers – specifically looking at the oxygen electrode. 24
“We’re trying to find better materials for the oxygen electrode for the water electrolyser,” she explained. “The most active material we know of is ruthenium oxide, but it’s not very stable. We’re trying to understand the degradation of the materials because then we can figure out how to use less of it, or make it run for longer.” With further advances in research, Andrea predicts hydrogen will be used to power more vehicles: “Hydrogen will be used for bigger vehicles like lorries and aeroplanes, while batteries will be used for smaller transportation like cars.”
Dr Iris Nandhakumar, Associate Professor in Electrochemistry, is an expert in the area. She said: “There are a lot of industrial processes that generate vast amounts of waste heat into the atmosphere, and cars generate a lot of heat from exhausts. If there were a technology that could turn that waste energy into energy that can be used, that would be invaluable.” An up-and-coming area for thermoelectrics is variable energy harvesting. Iris sees huge potential in this when it comes to wearable technology. “A thermoelectric watch would be one example, with an embedded thermoelectric harvester that converts body heat into electricity to power and charge the watch,” she said. “Thermoelectrics could also be used in sensors for healthcare technology. Having something you can wear on your body that
