Turning Water Into Fuel With Sunlight

We all know that a solar Cue the natural process of turning sunlight into energy in plant called photosynthesis. But the same process inspires another method for the production of clean energy of turning water into fuel. Artificial photosynthesis, only water can be used in liquid fuel.

"Photo-oxidation of water into oxygen molecules, electrons and protons (hydrogen ions) is one of the two main reactions half of an artificial photosynthesis system - it provides the electrons needed to reduce carbon emissions to a fuel," says Heinz Frei, a chemist with Berkeley Lab Physical Biosciences Division. It can be an alternative method of turning water into fuel.

The use of photo-oxidation (or reactive oxygen combines various elements under the influence of light), the water molecules are split to free electrons and oxygen molecules. The oxygen (O2) are expected to react with carbon dioxide (CO2) for liquid fuels such as methanol (CH3OH). Of course, as we all know, methanol as a fuel for fuel cells. However, for photo-oxidation, a catalyst is necessary for the scientists of the Ministry of Energy of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with.

The scientists discovered an effective catalyst for photo-oxidation in the form of cobalt oxide. The catalyst in question is a membrane embedded with cobalt oxide nanocrystals. For the business perspective, these nanocrystals as a kind of "green leaves" of the setup for the reaction. After Clear, cobalt oxide nanocrystals "perfect the bill, because the abundant, efficient, fast, and they are a long time. This discovery may lead to a new source of renewable energy for the transport industry, promises carbon neutral results.