This
is promising, not least because it shows us that it is possible to
produce these particles but that their surface effect is accessible.
What that means is that a measurable effect in the macroscopic
world is strengthened exponentially once we drop to these scales.
Thus catalytic hydrogen production becomes potentially viable.
Even
better it can be driven by sunlight. Thus we could place devices out
in the middle of the desert and produce storable hydrogen as an
energy intermediary.
The
next question of course is just what level of efficiency is plausible
and practical. This is proof of concept.
Research Reveals Nanotechnology Simplifies Hydrogen Production for Clean Energy
Newswise — STONY
BROOK, NY, November 20, 2012 – In the first-ever experiment of
its kind, researchers have demonstrated that clean energy hydrogen
can be produced from water splitting by using very small metal
particles that are exposed to sunlight. In the article,
“Outstanding activity of sub-nm Au clusters for photocatalytic
hydrogen production,” published in the journal Applied
Catalysis B: Environmental, Alexander Orlov, PhD, an Assistant
Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at Stony
Brook University, and his colleagues from Stony Brook and Brookhaven
National Laboratory, found that the use of gold particles smaller
than one nanometer resulted in greater hydrogen production than other
co-catalysts tested.
“This is the first
ever demonstration of the remarkable potential of very small metal
nanoparticles [containing fewer than a dozen atoms] for making fuel
from water,” said Professor Orlov. Using nanotechnology, Professor
Orlov’s group found that when the size of metal particles are
reduced to dimensions below one nanometer, there is a tremendous
increase in the ability of these particles to facilitate hydrogen
production from water using solar light. They observed a “greater
than 35 times increase” in hydrogen evolution as compared to
ordinary materials.
In order to explain
these fascinating results, Professor Orlov collaborated with
Brookhaven National Lab computational scientist Dr. Yan Li, who found
some interesting anomalies in electronic properties of these small
particles. Professor Orlov noted that there is still a tremendous
amount of work that needs be done to understand this phenomenon. “It
is conceivable that we are only at the beginning of an extraordinary
journey to utilize such small particles [of less than a dozen atoms
in size] for clean energy production,” he said.
“In order to reduce
our dependence on fossil fuels it is vital to explore various
sustainable energy options,” Professor Orlov said. “One possible
strategy is to develop a hydrogen-based energy economy, which can
potentially offer numerous environmental and energy efficiency
benefits. Hydrogen can conceivably be a promising energy source in
the future as it is a very clean fuel, which produces water as a
final combustion product. The current challenge is to find new
materials, which can help to produce hydrogen from sustainable
sources, such as water.”
Professor Orlov also
serves as a faculty member of theConsortium for Inter-Disciplinary
Environmental Research at Stony Brook University. Members of his
research team include Peichuan Shen and Shen Zhao from the Department
of Materials Science and Engineering at Stony Brook and Dr. Dong Su
of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven
National Laboratory.
###
Editors’ Note: This
project was partially funded by an $80,588 exploratory
grant from the National Science Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment