khosq.com

By Lisa Zyga,

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the early 1800s, during the peak of the Industrial
Revolution, modern science revolved around steam engines and other coal-powered
applications. So it may seem a bit out of place that, in 1833, an Italian
physicist named G. D. Botto was performing experiments on a technique for
generating hydrogen.

“Hydrogen is the most common element on
Earth, the lightest and the simplest in its structure,” Roberto De Luca of the
University of Salerno in Italy told PhysOrg.com.
“Hydrogen gas was already known to [French chemist Antoine-Laurent] Lavoisier at
the end of the eighteenth century. However, the production of hydrogen, at the
time Botto performed his experiment, can only be viewed as a sub-product of
electrolysis. Botto’s main objective was to show to the scientific community
that electricity could be obtained by a source of heat through his ingenious
device.”

De
Luca is part of an Italian team of scientists who have revisited Botto’s
experiments to investigate whether the technique could have applications for
today’s energy problems. The Italian group was inspired by the convenience of
Botto’s device, which can be easily fabricated and is composed of widely
available materials. The researchers calculated that, although a modified
version of Botto’s device has a very low power conversion efficiency, it can
still produce enough electromotive force to generate hydrogen.