Plumage power storage
JUL 07, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023485
The Economist : The proteins that make up chicken feathers could provide a cheap ($200 per car) and effective way to store hydrogen fuel in cars.Richard Wool and a colleague, Erman Senöz, have discovered that keratin—the fibres that make up feathers—when heated in the absence of oxygen, forms hollow tubular structures six millionths of a meter across and riddled with microscopic pores, much like carbon nanotubes.To avoid melting the fibers they first heat-treated the feathers to around 215°C. This strengthened their structure and allowed further heating to 400–450 °C. At this point the material becomes more porous, increasing its surface area and its hydrogen-storing capacity.
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
