Artificial photosynthesis isn't a brand new idea, but it is getting a fresh look and some interesting new developments from a couple of different groups, both of which are looking at this as a way of readily and inexpensively producing hydrogen for energy uses. Cracking water into hydrogen and oxygen and then recombining them in a fuel cell has great allure as a closed, non-polluting, non-greenhouse-gas-emitting system for providing energy. And now it's starting to seem like it has taken another couple of steps closer to reality.
Pentagonal Molecules Could Lead to Self-Assembling Nanomaterials
Researchers from Rutgers University and the University of Cambridge are exploring new nanomaterials that will more readily self-assemble into thin-films which could lead to new methods of fabricating electronic devices at even smaller scales. The materials under study are ring-like molecules which have five-fold, pentagonal symmetry, which prevents them from latching onto any one location on a coper substrate, which has three-fold symmetry. The characteristics of these molecules "is ideal for the spontaneous creation of high-density stable thin films."
Federal Fleet Slashes Fuel Use with More Efficient Vehicles
The Government Services Administration (GSA) -- the agency that buys vehicles for federal agencies to lease -- has announced that the new cars purchased so far in 2011 use 21 percent less fuel than the cars they replaced. The average MPG for the new vehicles has gone from 19.1 last year to 23.4 this year.
Artificial Leaves Increase Photosynthesis 10x
Synthetic photosynthesis has been around for more than a decade. Early versions were costly and short-lived, which made them impractical for any real-world application. Now, an MIT research team has developed a method of artificial photosynthesis to create and store energy, with 10 times the efficiency of plant photosynthesis.
Toys "R" Us Facility Getting Largest Solar Rooftop in U.S.
A Toys "R" Us distribution facility in New Jersey will soon be home to the largest solar rooftop installation in the country. The huge installation will feature 37,000 solar panels producing 5.38 MW of power. Toys "R" Us has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Constellation Energy Group -- the builders of the project -- and will meet 72 percent of the facility's energy needs with the solar power system.
More Hydrogen from Sunlight
A team of scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University and others at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are also working on a method to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight. This form of photo-electrochemical (PEC) water splitting uses molybdenum sulfide as a catalyst rather than platinum. Platinum has been known to work as a catalyst for PEC water splitting, but it is also a particularly rare and expensive mineral, which makes it problematic for widespread use. In addition to developing an inexpensive catalyst, the research has also worked on light absorbers to capture as much light energy as possible.
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