After Six Decades Michigan State University Scientist Still Has Enthusiasm For Chemistry. How is that? He Has Discovered a New Energy Source.

This week, SiGNa Chemistry Inc. unveiled its new hydrogen cartridges, which provides energy to fuel cells designed to recharge cell phones, laptops and GPS units. This a green energy source so it’s good for the atmosphere. It is also geared toward outdoor enthusiasts as well as residents of the Third World, where electricity in homes is considered a luxury.

James Dye, SiGNa's co-founder and University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at MSU created the spark for this project. His work with alkali metals led to a green process to harness the power of sodium silicide, which is the source for SiGNa's new product (Michigan State University, 2011).

"In our lab, we were able to produce alkali metal silicides, which basically are made from sodium and silicon, which, in turn, are produced from salt and sand," Dye said. "By adding water to sodium silicide, we're able to produce hydrogen, which creates energy for fuel cells. The byproduct, sodium silicate, is also green. It's the same stuff found in toothpaste", (Michigan State University, 2011).

SiGNa was built on Dye's research and develop a power platform that produces low-pressure hydrogen gas on demand, convert it to electricity via a low-cost fuel cell and emit simple water vapor (Michigan State University, 2011).

Using a similar process, Dye was able to use this power in electric bicycles. The fuel cell, developed by SiGNa's partners, ranges in size from 1 watt to 3 kilowatts and is capable of pushing a bicycle up to 25 mph for approximately 100 miles (Michigan State University, 2011).

During the last couple of weeks our class discussed: work, energy, and power. We learned that coal is the number one fossil fuel in use today. This is destroying the ozone layer and causing the greenhouse effect. If researchers continue to work hard to come up with innovate power platforms there is no telling where this research may take us. I think that going green is a great intuitive and thank the scientist wholeheartedly. So thanks again to all who are hard at work, bringing us new technology in the year 2011 and beyond. This is what science is all about! And that's exactly why science rocks!

Bibliography
Michigan State University. (2011, February 17). Hydrogen cartridges fuel laptops and phones for outdoor enthusiasts. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2011/02/110217151455.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_m