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A Practical Artificial Leaf Begins to Unfold
Last edited Fri Aug 28, 2015, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/540886/a-practical-artificial-leaf-begins-to-unfold/[font face=Serif][font size=5]A Practical Artificial Leaf Begins to Unfold[/font]
[font size=4]A new prototype that turns the sun’s energy into hydrogen fuel could point the way to commercially viable artificial photosynthesis.[/font]
By Mike Orcutt on August 27, 2015
[font size=3]Fuel made inexpensively through artificial photosynthesis could be the ultimate renewable energy source. Now researchers at Caltech say they have built the first prototype of an artificial leaf that is both efficient and safe. They say the device, which uses light and water to make clean hydrogen fuel, could lead to a commercially viable version in the near future.
…
To be a commercially viable technology, the system, which is inspired by plant photosynthesis, must be efficient, stable, inexpensive, and safe, he says. Some previous demonstrations of artificial leaf technology have shown impressive efficiency but haven’t been stable, he says. “Nothing is close, in terms of efficiency and stability and safety all combined at once, to what we’ve done here,” says Lewis.
…
The newly demonstrated system represents the accomplishment of a five-year project of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, which received $122 million from the federal government in 2010 and will soon be up for new funding. The objective was to demonstrate the direct production of fuel from the sun with efficiency 10 times greater than plants.
The technology still must get a lot cheaper to be competitive with other sources of fuel. Ultimately, Lewis envisions a system that can be “rolled out like a piece of plastic” over a large area. What’s important now, he says, is the proof that achieving high efficiency safely and in a relatively stable manner is even doable. “We will work on the cost after we are walking instead of crawling.”[/font][/font]
[font size=4]A new prototype that turns the sun’s energy into hydrogen fuel could point the way to commercially viable artificial photosynthesis.[/font]
By Mike Orcutt on August 27, 2015
[font size=3]Fuel made inexpensively through artificial photosynthesis could be the ultimate renewable energy source. Now researchers at Caltech say they have built the first prototype of an artificial leaf that is both efficient and safe. They say the device, which uses light and water to make clean hydrogen fuel, could lead to a commercially viable version in the near future.
…
To be a commercially viable technology, the system, which is inspired by plant photosynthesis, must be efficient, stable, inexpensive, and safe, he says. Some previous demonstrations of artificial leaf technology have shown impressive efficiency but haven’t been stable, he says. “Nothing is close, in terms of efficiency and stability and safety all combined at once, to what we’ve done here,” says Lewis.
…
The newly demonstrated system represents the accomplishment of a five-year project of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, which received $122 million from the federal government in 2010 and will soon be up for new funding. The objective was to demonstrate the direct production of fuel from the sun with efficiency 10 times greater than plants.
The technology still must get a lot cheaper to be competitive with other sources of fuel. Ultimately, Lewis envisions a system that can be “rolled out like a piece of plastic” over a large area. What’s important now, he says, is the proof that achieving high efficiency safely and in a relatively stable manner is even doable. “We will work on the cost after we are walking instead of crawling.”[/font][/font]
https://www.caltech.edu/news/artificial-leaf-harnesses-sunlight-efficient-fuel-production-47635
[font face=Serif]08/27/2015
[font size=5]Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production[/font]
[font size=4]Generating and storing renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, is a key barrier to a clean-energy economy. When the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) was established at Caltech and its partnering institutions in 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub had one main goal: a cost-effective method of producing fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis in plants and storing energy in the form of chemical fuels for use on demand. Over the past five years, researchers at JCAP have made major advances toward this goal, and they now report the development of the first complete, efficient, safe, integrated solar-driven system for splitting water to create hydrogen fuels.[/font]
[font size=3]"This result was a stretch project milestone for the entire five years of JCAP as a whole, and not only have we achieved this goal, we also achieved it on time and on budget," says Caltech's Nate Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor and professor of chemistry, and the JCAP scientific director.
The new solar fuel generation system, or artificial leaf, is described in the August 27 online issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science. The work was done by researchers in the laboratories of Lewis and Harry Atwater, director of JCAP and Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science.
…
The new system consists of three main components: two electrodes—one photoanode and one photocathode—and a membrane. The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidize water molecules, generating protons and electrons as well as oxygen gas. The photocathode recombines the protons and electrons to form hydrogen gas. A key part of the JCAP design is the plastic membrane, which keeps the oxygen and hydrogen gases separate. If the two gases are allowed to mix and are accidentally ignited, an explosion can occur; the membrane lets the hydrogen fuel be separately collected under pressure and safely pushed into a pipeline.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production[/font]
[font size=4]Generating and storing renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, is a key barrier to a clean-energy economy. When the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) was established at Caltech and its partnering institutions in 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub had one main goal: a cost-effective method of producing fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis in plants and storing energy in the form of chemical fuels for use on demand. Over the past five years, researchers at JCAP have made major advances toward this goal, and they now report the development of the first complete, efficient, safe, integrated solar-driven system for splitting water to create hydrogen fuels.[/font]
[font size=3]"This result was a stretch project milestone for the entire five years of JCAP as a whole, and not only have we achieved this goal, we also achieved it on time and on budget," says Caltech's Nate Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor and professor of chemistry, and the JCAP scientific director.
The new solar fuel generation system, or artificial leaf, is described in the August 27 online issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science. The work was done by researchers in the laboratories of Lewis and Harry Atwater, director of JCAP and Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science.
…
The new system consists of three main components: two electrodes—one photoanode and one photocathode—and a membrane. The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidize water molecules, generating protons and electrons as well as oxygen gas. The photocathode recombines the protons and electrons to form hydrogen gas. A key part of the JCAP design is the plastic membrane, which keeps the oxygen and hydrogen gases separate. If the two gases are allowed to mix and are accidentally ignited, an explosion can occur; the membrane lets the hydrogen fuel be separately collected under pressure and safely pushed into a pipeline.
…[/font][/font]
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