Technology Review: Solar-Power Breakthrough

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Technology Review: Solar-Power Breakthrough: "In his experimental system, Nocera immerses an indium tin oxide electrode in water mixed with cobalt and potassium phosphate. He applies a voltage to the electrode, and cobalt, potassium, and phosphate accumulate on the electrode, forming the catalyst. The catalyst oxidizes the water to form oxygen gas and free hydrogen ions. At another electrode, this one coated with a platinum catalyst, hydrogen ions form hydrogen gas. As it works, the cobalt-based catalyst breaks down, but cobalt and potassium phosphate in the solution soon re-form on the electrode, repairing the catalyst."

The second remaining step in artificial photosynthesis is developing a material that absorbs sunlight, generating the electrons needed to power the water-splitting catalysts. That will allow Nocera's catalyst to run directly on sunlight; right now, it runs on electricity taken from an outlet.

The system can use electricity from any source. But there are a couple of reasons to focus on solar. First, the ultimate goal of the research is artificial photosynthesis, because solar power is the biggest source of energy we've got.

The second is a more practical issue. Note that, near the end, the article talks about the need to improve the rate of oxygen production. Right now, the rate is very close to what would be needed in artificial photosynthesis, but not fast enough to be practical in conjunction with wind power or other sources of electricity, according to NREL's John Turner.
With his start-up company, Sun Catalytix, Nocera hopes to make the system affordable enough to allow individual homes to generate their own fuel and electricity on-site. By distributing hydrogen production in this way, the new method could potentially solve the problem of hydrogen transportation

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