Researchers in Brazil have found a better way to turn ethanol into hydrogen, and it all comes down to how they heat their materials. By fine-tuning the temperature during production, they created a stable, low-cost catalyst that doesn’t rely on expensive rare metals.

The study, led by Fabio Coral Fonseca at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN), focuses on “ethanol steam reforming.” This process mixes ethanol with steam at high temperatures to create hydrogen. It’s a big deal for Brazil because the country already has the pipes and pumps to move ethanol everywhere.

The Secret to Converting Ethanol Into Hydrogen

The team used a special ceramic called a perovskite. In most setups, you’d just coat a surface with a metal like nickel to get the reaction started. The IPEN team did something different and tucked the nickel inside the crystal structure of the ceramic.

When they heated it up under specific conditions, the nickel popped out onto the surface. They call this “exsolution.” Because the nickel starts on the inside, it stays anchored and doesn’t clump together or get covered in carbon “coke” that usually ruins these systems.

“The metal comes from the inside out,” Fonseca said. “It doesn’t move around the surface as it does in impregnated catalysts. That gives the system much greater stability.”

Temperature is Everything

The team realized that the initial heating temperature, called calcination, decides how well the catalyst works. They tried 650 °C, 800 °C, and 1,200 °C.

The lowest temperature, 650 °C, worked best. It kept the ceramic particles small, which made it easier for the nickel to emerge. The result was 100% ethanol conversion and a system that stayed stable for 85 hours. If they turned the heat up too high, the particles grew too large and the nickel got stuck inside.

“It isn’t enough to choose the right elements. How the material is manufactured is decisive,” Fonseca explained. “A relatively simple adjustment in processing completely changes the performance.”

While the team is excited, they aren’t stopping at hydrogen. They are also looking into fuel cells that can turn ethanol directly into electricity. “Ethanol is a very valuable molecule,” Fonseca said. “Simply breaking it down to produce hydrogen and then electricity may not be the best choice.”