According to LANL, “The Los Alamos researchers developed non-precious-metal catalysts for the part of the fuel cell that reacts with oxygen. The catalysts – which use carbon (partially derived from polyaniline in a high-temperature process) and inexpensive iron and cobalt instead of platinum – yielded high power output, good efficiency, and promising longevity.

“The researchers found that fuel cells containing the carbon-iron-cobalt catalyst synthesized by Wu not only generated currents comparable to the output of precious-metal-catalyst fuel cells, but held up favorably when cycled on and off—a condition that can damage inferior catalysts relatively quickly … the carbon-iron-cobalt catalyst fuel cells effectively completed the conversion of hydrogen and oxygen into water, rather than producing large amounts of undesirable hydrogen peroxide.”

Now, I’ve been talking about platinum free fuel cells for years as a means to speeding up the commercialization of hydrogen cars, bringing down costs of the entire vehicle. In fact, just last week, I had talked about scientists using molybdenum to replace platinum.

On other posts through the years I’ve talked about researchers who have developed hydrogen fuel cells that replace platinum with nickel and cobalt, titanium dioxide nanocrystals and doped carbon nanotubes. What is exciting to me is that researchers are attacking the problem of creating cheaper fuel cells on multiple levels using multiple materials to replace our dependence upon platinum for power.

If just a small amount of this research reaches commercialization it will mean fuel cells for everybody in the not too distant future.

The Avimech Dragonfly DF1 weighs just 230 lbs and can carry a payload of up to 800 lbs. The Dragonfly is a tip-jet helicopter meaning the vehicle is powered from nozzles at the tip of the rotors. Hydrogen peroxide flows over a catalyst creating pressure and setting the rotors in motion.

Here is a video from 2009 about a test ride of the Dragonfly DF1. The company is calling the Dragonfly DF1 the first ever environmentally responsible aviation (ERA) helicopter since the only byproduct is a little steam.

In the past, I’ve talked many times about the merits of hydrogen peroxide or H2O2 as a potential future fuel for cars. It is already being used in race cars, race motorcycles, rocket ships, jetpacks and for some batteries.

Recently I’ve talked about the merits of water or H2O plus aluminum creating hydrogen for cars. In fact, many times over the past 4 years I’ve talked about this same subject. But, the last time I had talked about H2O2 plus aluminum creating hydrogen for vehicles was 2007.

Now, high purity hydrogen peroxide (90-percent plus) as opposed to low purity (10-percent) that you buy at the pharmacy, can be corrosive and unstable and must be handled with extreme care. In fact, some would argue that H2O2 is not safe enough to put directly into a vehicle other than a race car, rocket ship or jetpack. Tell that though to the Chinese who produced a prototype called the Habo No. 1 which did use hydrogen peroxide for fuel.

But, what if instead, hydrogen peroxide and aluminum (instead of silver or platinum) were used at the fueling pump to create hydrogen on demand for cars? Or at least it could be produced nearby and the resulting hydrogen could be piped or trucked only short distances.

In this regard, the people who handle the hydrogen peroxide would be the trained professionals who deliver it to the fueling stations or at the nearby off-site production locations. As in splitting H2O, the only byproduct of splitting H2O2 is a little steam and heat.

Anyway, I keep coming back to this point because I see potential in the idea but not a whole lot of development. Any hydrogen fuel producers want to take me up on this challenge?

In the past, I’ve talked about the Honda ASIMO robot powered by fuel cell and a bionic arm powered by hydrogen peroxide. So, now when I’m talking about powering the military’s new HULC robotic exoskeleton with hydrogen fuel cell instead of lithium ion batteries it isn’t quite as big of a stretch as it may at first seem.

This becomes quite obvious once you watch this video of the un-tethered hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton that a soldier straps onto his back, legs and feet that will help him run faster (7mph – 10mph) for long distances, carrying a 200 lb payload on his back.

The hydrogen fuel cell supplies power to the hydraulics which assists soldiers in running and using equipment (such as for communications) they are packing for up to 72 hours, far exceeding the energy that lithium ion batteries provide and at less weight.

Popular Mechanics even weighs in on the comparison of the science behind the development of the U. S. military exoskeleton suits and those used in the movie, Avatar. Lockheed Martin has chosen the Protonex Technology Corporation to develop the HULC robotic exoskeleton for the U. S. military.

Once again, science fiction is becoming science and hydrogen-powered transportation is being commercialized and may become mainstream in a very short timeframe in the future.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) that is fuel grade (90-percent or better) is a caustic liquid, that when used as fuel provides zero emissions energy. The hydrogen peroxide inside the race car typically travels over platinum or silver that is used as a catalyst and the chemical reaction that occurs splits the hydrogen and oxygen and creates a major amount of thrust.

H2O2 has been used and is being used in spaceplanes, jetpacks, race cars, regular cars, NASA rockets and backyard rockets. Like all fuels hydrogen peroxide must be handled with care.

This video shows the power of using hydrogen peroxide in a race car, the steam pouring out the back and how quickly it moves down the track. H2O2 as a fuel has been a much under researched and underdeveloped green source of energy for cars and other vehicles.

As a liquid it can travel by truck, tanker or pipeline and more research needs to be conducted on this fuel for possible use in future vehicles.

The exhaust from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is steam and oxygen. Now, it’s no secret that NASA has used liquid hydrogen as a propellant for years. NASA has also reportedly been doing some of its own R&D with hydrogen peroxide.

And, on this blog I’ve talked about using hydrogen peroxide as a current and potential future fuel to be used in cars, racecars, jetpacks, spaceplanes and airplanes.

In fact, hydrogen peroxide is routinely used in some racecars and jetpacks. Also it has been used in one Chinese car the Habo Number 1. The problems with hydrogen peroxide are that it is difficult to handle safely and it has been long thought of as a short-term propellant rather than a long-term fuel.

For instance, the hydrogen peroxide you have in your medicine cabinet is about 10 percent hydrogen peroxide and 90-percent water. On the other end of the spectrum is the fuel grade hydrogen peroxide, which is 90-percent plus H2O2.

In relation to using hydrogen peroxide to power planes, trains and automobiles, this is a much under-researched area. The perception of H2O2 is that it has to be used to power large, powerful machinery.

But, in August 2007, I had talked about how hydrogen peroxide was being used to power a bionic arm. That fact is the fuel is clean burning, with no greenhouse gases emitted, can be transported as a liquid and must be considered as a clean fuel candidate going forward. Getting the money to do R&D on H2O2 and changing public perception, however, may be the biggest challenges.

Now, Scott actually broke the record three times over the weekend. This past Friday in Scotland, Eric Scott flying on behalf of Jet Pack International broke the record at 43 mph. Flying into a headwind on Saturday, Scott once again broke the record with a 54 mph attempt.

And, on Sunday, Scott thrilled the crowd with his final world record breaking mark of 68 mph. A traffic cop with a radar gun verified the results which have been submitted to Guinness for inclusion into their book of world records. There was no word as to whether Elton John’s “Rocket Man” song was playing for any of the attempts.

I’ve talked before about hydrogen peroxide as being potential fuel of the future for cars, planes, trains and other vehicles. Research is lacking in this area. But, the more attention that is called to this fuel by jetpack flyers and race car drivers will mean more needed research will be conducted in this important area.

In fact, Scott not only sailed the 1,000 ft abyss but powered his way 1,500 feet forward with fuel to spare. The stuntman with over 800 jetpack flights to his credit flew for 21 seconds with 30 seconds worth of hydrogen peroxide onboard his 135-pound jetpack.

Scott works for Jet P. I. doing stunts and promotions and has never had a failure of his jetpack while in flight. Jetpacks have been used before in a James Bond movie and a Super Bowl, but this adventure over the Colorado gorge offered some unique challenges.

According to Scott, so that he wouldn’t freefall into the Arkansas River below, while he was in flight he was in a state of constant corrections and over-corrections as the winds were not as calm as they seemed to be.

Eric Scott was flying without a parachute as he believed the hydrogen peroxide powered jetpack to be sound and didn’t want to deal with the drag on his vehicle. Carbon fiber makes the jetpack relatively light and Scott is able to achieve speeds up to 70 mph.

Here is a Youtube video of the event. Though hydrogen peroxide has the reputation for being “rocket fuel” we need to think outside the box a bit and reconsider how this clean compound made up of only hydrogen and oxygen (H2O2) can be adapted for use in the automobile industry as well.

This may take some development by the automotive engineers of the world, but if successful, we’ll all be able to breathe a bit easier.

Now, a racecar named the Bloodhound SSC will attempt to be the first in history to break the 1,000 mph barrier and do it partly fueled by hydrogen peroxide. The current world record for land speed was set in 1997 by the ThrustSSC at 763 mph with Andy Green, a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot.

Besides creating an amazing feat using green technology, one of the major points of this project is to promote the fields of science, technology, mathematics and engineering in the United Kingdom where enrollment has been declining as of late.

The Bloodhound SSC will start off using a MCT V12 800 bhp race engine before the EJ200 turbofan kicks in and the high test peroxide (HTP) is pumped to the Falcon booster rocket. In a matter of seconds, the Bloodhound SSC is anticipated to reach Mach 1.4 and the 1,000 mph barrier.

Hydrogen peroxide may not be as well-known of a fuel as compressed or liquid hydrogen, but racecars, jetpacks and even the NASA rockets are harnessing this fuel for green propulsion. Hydrogen peroxide may just be the dark-horse of the alternative fuels waiting to be noticed by the public at large.

The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket or VASIMR could be in line for a mission to Mars if all goes well on the ISS. According to NASA, “Although the VASIMR could operate with waste hydrogen gas from the space station, no connections to this supply are planned for the experiment … Hydrogen is the primary choice for propellant but deuterium and helium are also of interest and might also be included.”

Also, according to NASA official and former astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz, hydrogen fuel has many benefits including, “We’re likely to find hydrogen pretty much anywhere we go in the solar system. What this means is that a VASIMR-powered spacecraft could be launched with only enough fuel to get to its destination, such as Mars, and then pick up more hydrogen upon arrival to serve as fuel for the return trip home. Another benefit of hydrogen fuel is that hydrogen is the best known radiation shield, so the fuel for the VASIMR engine could also be used to protect the crew from harmful effects of radiation exposure during the flight.”

There are couple of enlightening videos on the building and testing of VASIMR. One day, this hydrogen-powered technology could take astronauts to Mars, refuel with H2 using the resources there and come back to Earth. While usually I talk about hydrogen cars and other Earth-bound vehicles, on occasion it is fun to entertain the possibilities that lie beyond the boundaries of our atmosphere.