Do you think that hydrogen peroxide, a commonly-found chemical compound in drugstores, is just a cleaning agent, a disinfectant, and a bleach? However, the chemical makeup of hydrogen peroxide describes it as a compound with high energy reserves.
Using such a high-energy compound for household purposes seems suspicious and insufficient- right? Scientists also think like that.
Hydrogen peroxide having high potential is heavily researched and experimented on by scientists. They are trying to find new methods and technologies, using which they can make use of hydrogen peroxide’s ultimate power.
Some scientists even declare that hydrogen peroxide can generate viable amounts of energy if used precisely. Similarly, engineers are also inventing methods by which this compound can provide sufficient power to run a vehicle engine. Considering the energy potential of hydrogen peroxide, it can be employed for several technical tasks.
If you are curious about the perspective use of hydrogen peroxide, then check out the following context. In this article, you shall find a detailed briefing on different methods for using hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen Peroxide Opens Multiple Gateways to Progress!
Typically you can find Hydrogen Peroxide in everyday items like toothpaste, bleaches, and disinfectant. Such average uses of Hydrogen Peroxide make people misbelief that it does not have viable future prospects.
In actuality, hydrogen peroxide is a powerful chemical with extreme energy potential. Scientists and engineers categorize it as one of the most potent oxidative decomposers. However, due to the lack of proper techniques and technology, Hydrogen Peroxide is not used up to its total potential.
Hydrogen Peroxide has almost the composition as water but contains one additional oxygen atom.
Due to its chemical makeup, hydrogen peroxide quickly decomposes and releases tremendous energy. Being an unstable compound, obtaining power from Hydrogen Peroxide is relatively easy.
By reacting with chemical agents like aluminium, hydrogen peroxide releases immense energy.
Scientists and engineers love hydrogen atoms because they can store additional energy besides having their own vitality.
Since Hydrogen Peroxide has two Hydrogen atoms, it can hold double the amount of energy. The high energy capacity of this compound makes it highly desirable for future prospects.
What are the Potential Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide in the Future?
Hydrogen peroxide has high chemical energy reserves and is easier to work with. Moreover, it is easily prepared through the photolytic process, which makes it a renewable energy source.
All these properties of hydrogen peroxide have made it a valuable asset for future scientific research.
Below are some of the prospective uses of hydrogen peroxide in the future; that leading scientists from around the globe are really hoping to put into action:
#1 Use in Rockets
If the rocket is not broken down, no combustion will occur in space, implying that the rocket won’t operate. That is why rockets must carry a sufficient amount of an oxidizing agent along with the fuel.
Hydrogen peroxide is an inexpensive and sustainable oxidizing agent. It reacts with air molecules and can break down complex structures. Owing to these properties, scientists have devised a method to use Hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer in rocket fuel.
Hydrogen peroxide largely resembles water and oxygen molecules. This makes hydrogen peroxide an excellent agent for breaking down rocket fuel. Hydrogen peroxide is obtained with light and seawater, making it an affordable oxidizer for rocket fuels.
Uses and Applications
Unlike other future prospects of hydrogen peroxide, this one is already tested. Germans have successfully used liquid hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent in their liquid propellant rockets.
They used impure 80% to 85% aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution as the rocket fuel oxidizer.
A combustion process occurs when this concentrated hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with the fuel. The hydrogen peroxide explosively operates and drives the turbo wheel of the rocket. The fuel is consumed when the turbo pump works, and the rocket flies against the G-force.
Besides having scope for use in rockets, Hydrogen peroxide is also used to streamline the operation of hydrolytic towers. A significant amount of energy is required to run hydrolytic centers, which makes hydrogen peroxide ideal for this task.
How is it Better than Conventional Methods?
The most commonly used oxidizers in rocket fuel are tough to prepare and very reactive. These characteristics make their handling difficult.
Besides, most of these oxidizers are prepared from non-renewable energy sources. All these factors dictate that conventional oxidizing agents like liquid oxygen are costly.
However, hydrogen peroxide is a non-toxic substance that can pair with almost any kind of fuel. Due to the simple chemical structure of hydrogen peroxide, it is prepped easily via the photolytic reaction of seawater. This implies that the cost of preparing hydrogen peroxide is lower than most oxidizing agents.
#2 Salvaging Precious Metals
Hydrogen peroxide is a weak acid and one of the most potent oxidizing agents. Owing to these properties, this compound can also be employed for leaching precious metals like gold.
The extraction of metals is done via the leaching process that requires oxygen availability.
In water molecules and monatomic oxygen, the oxygen atoms are stable, which makes them weak oxidizing agents. Being strongly acidic, they are not good decomposers and, ultimately, not ideal for leaching. Therefore, Hydrogen peroxide is used in mining fields to extract metals in their pure form.
Uses and Applications
The most typical method for metal extraction used in mining fields is cyanidation. This method involves leaching metals by diluting them in the aqueous solution of cyanide compounds. For cyanidation, adequate oxygen availability is necessary to carry out metal extraction.
Hydrogen peroxide having two oxygen molecules, is an ideal oxidizing agent for the extraction process. It is added to the alkaline cyanide solution, which causes metals’ leaching. This method primarily extracts rare metals like palladium, gold, and silver.
Thanks to the rapid oxidizing effect of Hydrogen peroxide, the extraction process becomes quicker. Hydrogen peroxide is regularly used in industries as an oxidizing agent for extracting high metal yields.
How is it Better than Conventional Methods?
Usually, oxidizing acids are very expensive because they are highly unstable, and their manufacturing is complicated. Moreover, most oxidizing agents are present in solution forms, which can be inconvenient for several chain reactions.
But hydrogen peroxide is one of the most inexpensive oxidizing agents. Contrary to other chemicals, hydrogen peroxide is accessible and readily available in most pharmacies and drugstores. They are also present in powder forms which makes their use more manageable and safer.
#3 Generating Commercial Electricity
Scientists have recently discovered that Hydrogen Peroxide can generate electric current.
When the Hydrogen Peroxide is reacted with Aluminum metal, the medium (cell) produces electricity. Future Power cells will produce electricity using Hydrogen Peroxide.
These cells can be collectively aligned to produce electricity at a large scale.
The generation of electricity can emerge as a fatal problem in the coming years.
Due to a shortage of non-renewable fuel, the world might have a power crisis in the coming few decades.
Therefore, scientists have developed specific theories that claim to produce commercial electricity. And Future Power Cell is one such electricity-producing technique.
Uses and Applications
The chain reaction of aluminum and hydrogen peroxide produces electric sparks. This is possible due to the fact that Hydrogen peroxide has very high energy potential. Being unstable, it easily reacts with aluminum metal.
The reaction between hydrogen peroxide and aluminum is so strong that it generates 20 times more electricity than a car battery. This makes the Future Power Cells ideal for large-scale production of electric current with limited resources.
The technique was developed by professor John Rusek and his students from the University of Purdue. They have dedicated years to making the Future Power Cell for attaining a viable energy source. They are currently perfecting the Fuel Power Cell chain reaction to generate electric current instead of sparks constantly.
How is it Better than Conventional Methods?
The present methods of electricity production require non-renewable energy sources such as fuel. But Hydrogen peroxide is a renewable energy source that is present abundantly in nature. This characteristic makes the Future Power Cell a highly accessible method of producing electric current.
The conventional methods of generating electric current require the combustion method. As a result, vast amounts of gases are produced, which makes these procedures toxic and harmful to the environment. But the Future Power Cells have zero waste at the end of the chain reaction.
Moreover, the yield of Future Power Cells is much larger than present-day methods of obtaining electric current. With a minimal amount of aluminum and hydrogen peroxide, a high amount of electricity can be obtained.
#4 Making Fuel for Cars
Like rockets, the fuel in cars and heavy vehicles also requires an oxidizing agent for its breakdown. The fuel used in cars is less potent and more stringent than rocket fuel.
It oxidizes and breaks down to some extent on its own. But for better performance, a complete breakdown of fuel particles is necessary.
For this purpose, oxidizing agents are used in cars to accelerate their operational quality. Most oxidizing agents are not compatible with petroleum fuel.
However, hydrogen peroxide, which is similar to water, readily reacts with fuel molecules. The fuel particles get oxidized upon reaction, which implies their complete breakdown.
Uses and Applications
Hydrogen peroxide has two hydrogen atoms that preserve high levels of energy. Upon combustion with fuel, it releases that energy to operate the car. When it comes to oxidizing agents for vehicle fuel, there is no better than hydrogen peroxide.
Engineers also believe that hydrogen peroxide may also prove helpful in dealing with engine knocking.
However, you must consider that you cannot use hydrogen peroxide to run an engine. Despite having viable energy potential, the instability of this compound fails it as a fuel. It can only be paired with petroleum fuel as an oxidizing agent.
How is it Better than Conventional Methods?
With so many vehicles in the modern world, large amounts of oxidizing agents for their fuel are required. Conventional techniques utilize non-renewable oxidizers, which cannot be regenerated once used.
That is why these oxidizing agents do not pose a viable method for use with petroleum fuel.
But hydrogen peroxide is an easily attainable oxidizer that pairs with the fuel aptly. By using hydrogen peroxide, the efficiency of the fuel increases.
With lesser fuel, your vehicle can run long because with hydrogen peroxide, the energy potential of the fuel doubles. Besides, hydrogen peroxide is also excellent for engine health, preventing it from knocking and producing friction.
#5 Wastewater Treatment
As stated earlier, the chemical composition of hydrogen peroxide is similar to a water molecule. That is why it easily dissolves in water, and due to its anti-microbe properties, it can treat wastewater.
For years, hydrogen peroxide is used as a disinfectant in hospitals and pharmacies. But the latest research reveals that it can also be used for water treatment.
When hydrogen peroxide dissolves in water, the additional hydrogen atoms combine with other chemical compounds in the water.
Well water, notorious for having hydrogen sulfide, is treated with hydrogen sulfide for purification. Moreover, hydrogen peroxide, a strong oxidizing agent, can also remove bacteria and microbes from water.
Uses and Applications
Wastewater management has become a serious issue worldwide. With such low reserves of fresh water, scientists have prioritized accelerating water management techniques. Conventionally, biotechnology is used for treating water, but it is an expensive method.
Therefore, as a cheaper yet effective alternative, researchers now use hydrogen peroxide for wastewater management.
Bacteria and microbes are oxidized from water by dissolving a minute amount of hydrogen peroxide. Plus, other impurities, like iron, react with additional hydrogen atoms and are easily removed from the water.
How is it Better than Conventional Methods?
Conventional wastewater management methods require non-renewable compounds, which are not easy to obtain. In contrast, hydrogen peroxide is prepared in high yields at a low price.
An oxidizing agent is needed to treat harsh impurities of well water. But most oxidizers are toxic in nature and must not come in contact with human skin. However, hydrogen peroxide is quite the opposite of these conventional oxidizers.
For wastewater management, mild hydrogen peroxide is used. As mentioned above, mild or household-grade hydrogen peroxide is non-toxic, non-poisonous, and safe. hydrogen peroxide is used in minimal amounts for water treatment, which makes it suitable for consumption.
Is Hydrogen Peroxide Dangerous — Potential Threats
Hydrogen peroxide is a volatile compound and a weak acid. With such high energy potential, people always wonder whether hydrogen peroxide is dangerous and poisonous.
The toxicity of Hydrogen peroxide is different in its various forms. Household-grade Hydrogen peroxide is far less reactive and is easy and safe to use. Without certain precautions, you can use it as a bleach or stain remover.
On the other hand, industrial-grade Hydrogen peroxide requires one to be cautious while using it.
Actually, the industrial-grade compound is the concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide. It is very reactive and unstable. The compound decomposes into an oxygen and water molecule after exposure to air and light.
Moreover, if the concentrated hydrogen peroxide comes in direct contact with the skin, it can cause tissue damage. That is why one must wear a proper lab suit before experimenting with hydrogen peroxide.
At last, comes medical-grade hydrogen peroxide, which is less toxic than industrial peroxide but more reactive than household-grade compounds.
The medical-grade hydrogen peroxide is safe until it is used in low amounts. A pinch of hydrogen peroxide is also present in different kinds of toothpaste. But if this amount is increased, it can damage teeth and cause internal bleeding.
Therefore, you should be really cautious while operating with peroxide, and we urge you to follow the required guidelines and safety precautions to ensure nothing unsavory happens.
Is Hydrogen Peroxide Expensive?
Hydrogen peroxide is an extremely useful chemical substance. Besides being for cleaning stains, it is also used in laboratories to generate electric current. But despite having so many uses, Hydrogen peroxide is an inexpensive chemical.
Actually, the manufacturing of Hydrogen peroxide is relatively straightforward. The chemical is made in powder form. That is why there are no stability issues during production.
Due to easy manufacturing, the preparation cost of Hydrogen peroxide is also affordable. This makes its retail price also cheaper. Hydrogen peroxide also comes in liquid form, which is used as a disinfectant in hospitals. The cost of liquid form is higher than powder because of stability issues.
The Takeaway
It is evident that in the next few years, hydrogen peroxide will undoubtedly emerge as a valuable energy source. Though techniques for implementing the appropriate use of hydrogen peroxide are still unknown, scientists are heavily researching it.
It is expected that all the prospects of hydrogen peroxide will come true within the next two decades. Since it is a safe and non-poisonous compound, anyone can experiment with it by taking adequate precautions.
However, if you want to use concentrated hydrogen peroxide, it is suggested to do it under professional supervision. Besides, wearing a lab coat is also recommended in this scenario.
So, order your set today!
