A New Method for Generating Hydrogen from Water

A new method for generating hydrogen by the reaction of Al powder with water using iodine as additive is developed. I₂ can penetrate through the surface oxide layer on aluminium to form AlI₃. High solubility of AlI₃ in water is benefited to activate Al surface. It is found that the production of hydrogen becomes significant above 60°C and obeys a logarithm rule. The pH value varies from 5 to 3 then back to 4.5 during the reaction, which is determined mainly by the kinetics of hydration reaction of AlI₃ and the reaction of Al and HI produced spontaneously.