

New Way To Split Water Into Hydrogen And Oxygen - vaksel
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406102555.htm

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patrickg-zill
Ruthenium is rare, I would not be surprised if later research centered around
the use of more available platinum group metals such as palladium.

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silentOpen
Even palladium is expensive! The price of palladium is a major factor in
hydrogen fuel cell costs.

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patrickg-zill
Assuming the linked chart is accurate, it seems that ruthenium is currently
about half the cost of palladium, however it has in the past been much more -
up to $800 per ounce.

Current price of palladium: $237 per ounce Current price of ruthenium: $80-90
per ounce

[http://www.ebullionguide.com/price-chart-ruthenium-all-
time....](http://www.ebullionguide.com/price-chart-ruthenium-all-time.aspx)

(note, ounces are Troy ounces, which is 480 grains or 31.1 grams)

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electromagnetic
Impressive, I don't think I've ever heard of someone creating what's basically
a man-made enzyme. It's a bonus that this will provide a great step toward
usable, cheap hydrogen.

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ars
It's a catalyst, not an enzyme (enzymes are biological), and there certainly
are man made ones.

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electromagnetic
Actually if you read the article it's a metal complex with an organic complex
attached. So it is, in fact, both.

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10ren
Organic doesn't necessarily imply biological: in chemistry, an organic
compound is one that contains carbon.

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10ren
> ‘Because hydrogen peroxide is considered a relatively unstable molecule,
> scientists have always disregarded this step, deeming it implausible; but we
> have shown otherwise,’

Worth remembering when you're trying to do something new.

Anyone know if the metal/organic catalyst is toxic?

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miked
>> Anyone know if the metal/organic catalyst is toxic?

I don't know about ruthenium in particular, but almost all heavy metals are
toxic to humans. That's because they can often substitute for similar,
desirable metals (almost always lighter) in various biomolecules, but not
function properly when substituted. In other words, the heavy metals are
similar enough to bind to some active site, but not similar enough to perform
the correct function. Ruthenuium's properties are very similar to iron's,
which sounds like trouble.

