|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|
RESEARCHNovember 11, 2008Carbon promises cheap solar hydrogenMix carbon and nitrogen the right way and you have an inexpensive catalyst for extracting hydrogen from water in sunlight.The carbon and nitrogen mix forms plastic-like sheets that are broken down into a powder to increase surface area. The powdered carbon material splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using energy from sunlight. The catalyst is readily made from abundant materials The material is less expensive and easier to work with than previous catalysts, and could make solar water splitting an ecologically and economically practical way to generate hydrogen for fuel cells and vehicles. More work is needed; the catalyst is inefficient and inconsistent from batch to batch. The researchers have achieved better results by putting small amounts of platinum in the mix. Research paper: A Metal-Free Polymeric Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production from Water Under Visible Light Nature Materials, published online November 9, 2008 Researchers' homepages: Xinchen Wang Domen-Kubota Laboratory Arne Thomas Johan Carlsson Markus Antonietti Related stories and briefs: Cheap catalyst boosts solar hydrogen prospects -- related research Back to ERN November 17/24, 2008 |
ShareFeedsNews | Blog
E-mail headlines Energy-related books and products from Amazon.com |
© Copyright Technology Research News
2008-2009. All rights reserved.
