HOUSTON, Texas – Hydrogen sulfide, infamous for its aroma of rotten eggs, is known to be highly poisonous and corrosive – especially in wastewater applications. Petrochemical plants and other industries make thousands of tons of this gas every year as a byproduct of various processes that separate sulfur from petroleum, natural gas, coal, and other products.

Now, Rice University engineers and scientists have devised a new way for such petrochemical industries to turn the noxious gas into “high-demand” hydrogen gas.

Rice engineer, physicist, and chemist Naomi Halas and the team have created a method that derives energy from light and employs gold nanoparticles to convert hydrogen sulfide and sulfur in one step.

In comparison, current catalytic technology refineries work through a method known as the Claus process, which requires multiple steps. Also, it produces sulfur but no hydrogen, which is converted into water.

“Hydrogen sulfide emissions can result in hefty fines for industry, but remediation is also very expensive,” Halas, a nanophotonics pioneer whose lab has spent years developing commercially viable light-activated nanocatalysts, said in a statement. “The phrase ‘game-changer’ is overused, but in this case, it applies. Implementing plasmonic photocatalysis should be far less expensive than traditional remediation, and it has the added potential of transforming a costly burden into an increasingly valuable commodity.”

To read more, click on Interesting Engineering