Question: What type of materials are you making?

Jemma Rowlandson answered on 15 Jun 2014:

Hey Kirstie!

I am working with materials called porous carbons. Carbon is a chemical element, and it’s in the black ash that’s formed when you burn anything (like a slice of toast, or wood in a campfire).

My samples are special because they contain really really tiny holes, so small you cannot even see them under a microscope. In fact you could fit 10,000 of these holes in the width of one strand of hair.

To run a car off water you first have to split the water apart to make hydrogen gas, which is what you fill up your fuel tank with. This gas takes up a lot of space and so at the moment it’s very difficult and expensive to make these cars.

Having lots of tiny holes in my samples is really important. The more tiny holes my samples contain, the more hydrogen gas my samples can soak up. This means it’s easier to fit lots of hydrogen in a car, which makes them easier to make and a lot cheaper to buy!