Metals as Clean Fuels

Metals as Clean Fuels paves the way to metals as alternative clean fuels, by describing a scalable selective leaching method to activate metal fuels by increasing their surface-to-volume ratio, boosting in that way their reactivity with water for hydrogen and heat generation. Not only are metal fuels more energy-dense than fossil fuels, but importantly they can generate energy without CO₂ emissions, unlike fossil fuels.
After addressing the key questions and working principles in Chapters 1-3, the authors structured the content of the book by discussing metals at different ends of the energy density scale. In doing so, they examine zinc, which has a relatively low energy density, in Chapters 4 and 5. In contrast, they cover aluminum, situated at the high-density end, in Chapters 6 and 7. Next, the monograph further focuses on novel sustainable methods for fabricating metal/metal nanocomposites without the loss of sacrificial materials, as discussed in Chapters 8 and 9. This sustainable synthesis approach minimizes material loss during the dealloying process and creates new opportunities for developing metal/metal nanocomposites made from dissimilar nanoporous metal layers stacked together.
Finally, the book shows that, in addition to chemical composition and geometrical defects like interfaces, topology is an important design parameter. An inspiring methodology based on Integral-Geometry Morphological Image Analysis for porous material systems is presented, demonstrating that this method effectively analyzes geometrical objects and topological patterns in various porous systems in Chapter 10.
The monograph is the first of its kind to discuss state-of-the-art nanostructured metals as clean fuels. This timely book has the potential to catalyze and advance research in a field that lies at the intersection of various materials science disciplines. It aims to create highly versatile material systems for energy applications.