The same microwave science that heats up your leftovers for lunch can be leveraged to create a cleaner hydrogen energy source if lab work at South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology comes to fruition.
The team’s progress was detailed in a study published by ScienceDaily. The key, per the researchers, is that microwaves can drive chemical reactions in addition to warming yesterday’s lasagna.
The research will “pave the way for the development of new materials optimized for microwave-driven chemical processes,” professor Hyungyu Jin said in the report, per ScienceDaily.
For hydrogen, it means a cleaner way to produce a fuel that generates no heat-trapping air pollution. It emits only heat and water as a byproduct when used in a fuel cell, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
But most commercial hydrogen in the U.S. is made with a process that uses fossil fuels. Electrolysis is a…
