Spinning the Sun’s rays into fuel
MAR 29, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025176
Science: A silicon wafer the approximate shape and size of a playing card turns sunlight and water into hydrogen and oxygen and may provide a source of hydrogen fuel that’s both easy to tap and practically limitless. The new device isn’t the first one capable of splitting water, writes Robert Service for Science, but it may be the most cost effective. Prior attempts used catalysts that were very expensive or unstable. Daniel Nocera of MIT has addressed these issues with a new catalyst compound of three metals, and he and his team have been using the device for a week with no drop in efficiency. According to Nocera, the device converts 5.5% of the energy it absorbs into hydrogen fuel. He has not revealed which metals make up the catalyst; his work is not yet published.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
