Further information and commentary on using zinc and single atom catalysis (SAC) in a high temperature reactor where thermal gain derives from fractional hydrogen or the secondary reactions of f/H.
Note: this technology is presently covered by US patent US 6024935 Lower-energy hydrogen methods and structures (Mills, 2000) but will be in the public domain next year. Density of Zinc 7.14 g/cm3 Density of ZnH2 gaseous Boiling point of Zn . 907°C For comparison Density of Nickel 8.91 g/cm3 Density of NiH 7.74 g/cm3 (fully loaded) Boiling point of Ni 2,913°C Zinc, nickel and lithium are three catalysts which promote redundant ground states with greatly reduced orbitals compared to the Bohr model, according to Mills theory. Zinc hydride, ZnH2 in the gas-phase is a linear molecule with Zn-H bond lengths of 153.5 pm, and with the H bonds being mildly stable at low temperature. Zinc hydride was first synthesized in 1947 by a reaction between an organic form of zinc and lithium aluminum hydride. (LiAlH4) is of course the same catalyst used in the glow tube. LAH is particularly active with Zn at releasing hydrogen. Zinc hydride slowly decomposes to metallic zinc and H2 at room temperature with decomposition becoming rapid when heated. Zinc itself has a boiling point of 907°C, which is very low for a metal. When both zinc and hydrogen are gaseous in the same reactor space above 1000°C, it is expected that zinc hydrides will form successively in the mixed gas for a brief instant before quickly decomposing. There will be dynamic flux of redox activity which can be boosted by gaseous lithium. The rapid-reversible reactions in the hot gas would consist of the ionization of two outer electrons of the 30 available electrons of zinc. The electron shell is 2.8.18.2 meaning that only the outer two electrons participate in Zn chemistry - which is important in the context of both hydriding, and Rydberg energy. The d orbital, which is full, does not participate in Zn chemistry. Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electron_shell_030_Zinc_-_no_label.s vg One function of zinc in the glow-tube reactor, when heated with LAH and nickel would be to speed up and facilitate the release of hydrogen from LAH. The most important function would be densification which involves redundant ground states of hydrogen, catalyzed via Rydberg energy holes in zinc ionization. Nickel continues the densification process which is started by zinc, down to much lower levels, creating stability in an otherwise short-lived species. These dense hydrogen agglomerations have been labeled as DDL or UDH and a number of other names. The dense hydrogen becomes active for thermal gain in various ways (which can be ignored for now). The combined ionization potential of the two outer valence electron orbitals of zinc is close to the Rydberg value of 27.2 eV. Zinc is the only single atom catalyst in the periodic table, according to Mills patent, which is both gaseous at relatively low temperature and has the ionization potential at minimal value, near 27.2 eV for single atom catalysis. The result of having a single atom catalyst which is ionized by the mobile reactant it acts upon, is that the rate of catalysis, compared with an oxide supported nano-metal, can be billions of times faster. That kind of efficiency is related to the increased surface area in contact with the reactant - per unit of time. To the extent the theory and patents of Randell Mills are valid the key to excess heat in a glow-tube reactor of hybrid design - would be the reliance on vapor-phase zinc in combination with nickel and LAH. The fact that Randell Mills missed the features of a ceramic glow-tube design indicates once again that he is most likely a brilliant theorist but not a great inventor. Fortunately, for the rest of us - Mills most important patent which lists zinc as a prime catalyst (US 6024935)- will expire soon. In the US, for utility patents filed after June 8, 1995, the term of the patent is 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application, which for US 6024935 was March 1997, so the zinc f/H technology will be in the public domain early next year.
