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Dateline: 4/15/2009

Research Could Yield Culture-Changing Discovery, Allow for Widespread Use of Hydrogen Gas as Fuel

Zag Pupil, Professor Tackle Vexing Science Problem

Senior Thanh Do chats with chemistry Professor David Cleary about the possibilities of finding the right catalyst that would allow them to convert water to hydrogen gas using the sun. Photo By Jennifer Raudebaugh
Senior Thanh Do chats with chemistry Professor David Cleary about his project that aims to find the right catalyst to transform water into hydrogen gas in an efficient and cost-effective way. Photos by Jennifer Raudebaugh
By Peter Tormey

Thanh Do, a senior teaching assistant for Gonzaga chemistry Professor David Cleary, works on one of the foremost problems in 21st century science: find material to produce hydrogen gas efficiently and inexpensively from water and sunlight.

Gonzaga is among nine universities nationwide working on this project funded by the Dreyfus Special Grant in the Chemical Sciences.

The most suitable material may be a multi-component metal oxide, but there are millions of possible compositions and each must be tested. Hydrogen gas, recognized long ago as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, has been produced in many ways but to date has not been economical as an energy source.

“We know many ways to make hydrogen, but we spend 1,000 calories to make it and retrieve only 300,” Cleary said. The sun produces more energy in one hour than the world can use in one year and scientists believe a virtually unlimited source of hydrogen fuel could be produced if the right catalyst is found.

Thanh Do uses a LEGO Mindstorm Kit motor to direct a laser beam at thousands of various possible combinations of metal oxide on a slide immersed in water. The set-up is connected to a computer and records when possible catalysts are detected. The work is part of a much larger, nationwide project that aims to find a low-cost, effective catalyst to convert water into hydrogen gas for an inexpensive, abundant fuel source that does not threaten the ozone (as do carbon-emitting fuels). Photos by Jennifer Raudebaugh
Do plans to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry upon graduating and may return to teach in his native Vietnam. He enrolled here as a freshman. His brother is a 2006 GU engineering alumnus.

“At first, I really didn’t understand much about this project,” Do said. “I just wanted to work with Doctor Cleary. The way Doctor Cleary explains things make them very clear to me.”

At Gonzaga, Do said he loves the small classes and professors.

“I didn’t have much contact with the teachers in Vietnam,” he said. “Here, if we have a question, we can come and ask anytime.”

Even questions with profound implications.



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