Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have discovered a new and inexpensive way to produce oxygen from waste materials. This new method could revolutionize industries and the medical sector, where there is a high demand for oxygen. So, what benefits will this discovery bring? Here are the details…
Low-cost method for producing oxygen from waste materials
The team, led by Prof. Sverre Magnus Selbach, discovered new materials that can be used in oxygen production. These materials are much cheaper and more energy-efficient compared to traditional methods. Selbach and his team worked on materials that can store and release oxygen quickly.
These waste materials offer significant advantages compared to expensive and energy-intensive methods like distilling oxygen from the air. Selbach says, “These materials can release pure oxygen at much lower temperatures, which means less energy consumption and lower costs.”
The research focuses on hexagonal manganites. These materials offer great advantages in terms of rapid oxygen absorption, cost-effectiveness, and scalability. Additionally, hexagonal manganites have high entropy properties, meaning they have various compositions and lack precise crystal structures.
This allows the waste materials to tolerate impurities and minor defects during production. Thus, working with these materials becomes both easy and cheap. Selbach states, “These materials can store and release oxygen much more efficiently. The flexibility in the production process makes them more practical and useful.”
The production of cheap oxygen from waste materials could make a significant difference in areas dependent on oxygen, such as industry and medicine. In other words, everything from oxygen masks used in hospitals to oxygen sources used in industrial and automotive facilities will become cheaper and more environmentally friendly.
For example, reducing oxygen production costs in hospitals could also reduce healthcare costs. Similarly, producing oxygen more cheaply in industrial production could lower production costs and, consequently, the final product prices.
You can find the details of the research on the Chemistry of Materials website. What do you think about this development? What other benefits do you think cheap oxygen production could bring? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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