Recently, M. Rajagopalan, a grade seven student at the 2023 California Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF), wanted to produce hydrogen on demand without the need for an external source of energy. He chose to make aluminum nanoparticles from a gallium-aluminum composite for water splitting and hydrogen generation. Normally, aluminum has a surface barrier layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) which prevents it from reacting with water to form hydrogen gas. Gallium disrupts this barrier layer and allows the aluminum particles to interact with water to produce hydrogen.
