Alternative Energy News - Advances in Molecular Combinations

The refinement of advanced alloys, substances, and elements will play a crucial role in the future of energy science, making possible higher efficiency electrical transmission over smart grids and the development of advanced power storage devices among other applications. One of the most promising of these new materials currently under study, lithium hydrogen, may be central to the evolution of a new generation of superconductors.

On the periodic table of elements, hydrogen is the lightest element and lithium the third lightest. Generally, in earth’s environmental conditions, hydrogen takes a gaseous form and lithium is a metal. Innovative modern science, however, is achieving surprising new molecular combinations in the quest to create better superconductors.

Superconductivity is a quantum mechanical phenomenon occurring in certain materials at extremely low temperatures. Stated in overly-simplistic terms, superconductivity occurs when electrons are able to move through such materials unobstructed. In the absence of resistance, superconductive elements can carry large electrical loads for longer periods of time without large energy loss through heat. Consequently, an electrical current can, in theory, flow through a superconductor indefinitely with little or no power source to perpetuate the flow.

In a paper recently published and presented at the National Academy of Sciences, a team from the State University of New York and Cornell University revealed a method to make a new form of hydrogen. A small amount of lithium, introduced in a hydrogen substrate, and subjected to pressure equal to one million atmospheres renders the innovative superconductive material. (This is a quarter of the pressure needed to convert pure hydrogen to a metal state.)

The interaction of the lithium and hydrogen create a stable non-metallic compound generally known as lithium hydrogen or LiH. Given the degree of pressure required to make LiH, shock wave computer modeling has been used to predict if the union of the two elements would result in a new super-conducting material.

The predicted hydrogen / lithium combinations have not been produced in a lab until the SUNY-Cornel study. The most promising mixture is LiH6 unites 6 atoms of hydrogen to each one of lithium. The verified findings under high pressure show the reaction creates a stable metallic hydrogen substance.

Currently, LiH6 quickly decomposes at normal environmental pressures forming H2 and LiH2 (two hydrogen atoms to one lithium atom.) It is hoped, however, that these discoveries will ultimately lead to a stable LiH6.

These and other projects are challenging the most basic assumptions of science about the structure of molecules and atoms. If the studies result in a metallic superconductor based on hydrogen and lithium, it will be a major development in the field of clean, green energy, removing many of the current obstacles of transmission efficiency.

Alternative Energy News :Lithium Hydrogen Superconductors