Investigate the possibilities of reducing the dependence of human civilization from fossil fuels are in progress in several promising directions. Scientists in particular have focused their efforts on finding a more effective method of obtaining gaseous hydrogen fuel using solar energy to split water, which on Earth are many, on its components — hydrogen and oxygen.
Recently in the journal Nature Energy the article was published, the lead author of which is an assistant Professor Yong Yan (Yong Yan) from the Technological Institute of new Jersey, which reported on the significant progress towards achieving this goal.
John Yang with colleagues from the National laboratory of renewable energy, Mining University of Colorado and the University of California in San Diego used to improve the efficiency of producing hydrogen gas using solar energy technology photoelectrochemical cells based on quantum dots. Quantum efficiency in the course of the experiments the researchers reached 114%.
Quantum dots — the semiconductor particles are very small, amounting to only a few nanometers (1 nanometer = one billionth fraction of a meter). Researchers in the described device are the usual semiconductor materials like silicon and selenide copper-indium-gallium substituted sulfide quantum dots. Advantage of the new photoelectrochemical device is its potential ability to transform the wider part of the solar spectrum into usable energy.
The Device, according to his description, solar absorbing one photon, is capable of producing two or even more electron, which is possible due to a process called "multiple exciton playback" (multiple exciton generation, MEG). The efforts of most scientists are directed on to as close to 100% performance indicator process, whereas in the present study, this level could even surpass. This shows that design-based photoelectrochemical cells described by researchers in terms of the quantum yield far exceeds the efficiency of solar cells based on quantum dots.
Jon Yang believes that the generated photoelectrochemical device based on quantum dots is an important development, which is the fruit of his long-term interest in renewable energy, in particular — to new ways of using solar energy.
In his opinion, the result opens up the possibility in the future to generate more energy using more efficiently using solar energy approach. Moreover, he believes that new development may lead to fundamental changes in the overall progress of production technology of hydrogen fuel.
Now there is the possibility of obtaining hydrogen fuel using conventional generated by consuming fossil fuel power plants, electrical energy. But the first step with such a high quantum efficiency of application of solar energy to produce hydrogen, could potentially lead to progress towards a more environmentally friendly method of production of hydrogen fuel. Informed about the decision of some major companies to invest in the development and promotion of hydrogen energy nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars.
Will the new development the basis of a method of producing hydrogen fuel in the future?
materials sciencedaily.com
Recommended
Can genes create the perfect diet for you?
Diet on genotype can be a way out for many, but it still has a lot of questions Don't know what to do to lose weight? DNA tests promise to help you with this. They will be able to develop the most individual diet, because for this they will use the m...
How many extraterrestrial civilizations can exist nearby?
If aliens exist, why don't we "hear" them? In the 12th episode of Cosmos, which aired on December 14, 1980, co-author and host Carl Sagan introduced viewers to the same equation of astronomer Frank Drake. Using it, he calculated the potential number ...
Why does the most poisonous plant in the world cause severe pain?
The pain caused to humans by the Gimpi-gympie plant can drive him crazy Many people consider Australia a very dangerous place full of poisonous creatures. And this is a perfectly correct idea, because this continent literally wants to kill everyone w...
Related News
The holding company shvabe is developing a new generation of fiber
As stated by the press service of the state Corporation «rostec» holding «Schwabe» together with the specialists of Volga state University of telecommunications and Informatics (PHUTI) in the framework of enhan...
NASA has developed the concept of suspended lunar greenhouse
for a long time to live and work on the moon or Mars, you need to eat well. A healthy diet is unthinkable without fruit, vegetables and herbs, so the problem with growing food is to scientists almost as urgent as the establishment...
DARPA looking for way to speed up the process of learning
If the brain is a common set of biological "wires" and "circuits", why not just upgrade its components to make us better and smarter? At least this is the theory behind a new project, the secret research Department of the advanced...
For brain development, immunity and memory respond to the same genes
Previously it was thought that in the brain and is its own immune cells, are separated from the rest of the body the blood-brain barrier. Thus cells of the brain and immune system develop under the influence of factors unrelated t...
NASA and ESA will hold a joint landing on a moon of Jupiter
Recent discoveries in space at the same time simplified the search for life beyond Earth, and at the same time its complicated. The more we find exoplanets and their satellites, have the potential to support extraterrestrial life,...
Chinese engineers proposed to build an underwater Hyperloop
Preliminary calculations conducted by the Institute of railway transport of China, showed that the construction of the submarine branch of the vacuum tunnel by the principle Hyperloop — quite feasible for the Chinese experts...
The Chinese government founded the centre for development of commercial space technologies
China continues to develop its space industry, steadily catching up with other countries in different directions. Slowly but surely moving to create its own space station, the core of which will be launched next year, is developin...
Scientists have created an artificial womb for premature babies
the problem of supporting the life and the full development of premature babies is very relevant today. Is considered a premature baby, born at 37-38 weeks earlier and having a body weight less than 2.5 kg. Born every year prematu...
10 cases, when the planet was on the brink of Apocalypse
Until mankind came out unscathed. Given how much we've been lucky so far, it becomes strange why we haven't found life elsewhere in the Universe. However, there were many cases when the human race was almost at the brink of doomsd...
The cells of the immune system help in the contraction of the heart muscle
it would Seem that anatomy and physiology — science, which are open to virtually all. Nevertheless scientists from around the world continue to make amazing discoveries. For example, recently a group of researchers from Mass...
Can genes be responsible for our food preferences?
has Long been known that all of our characteristics, both good and bad (like disease), developing due to genetically information. But until now it was unclear whether genetics influences on our habits, including eating behavior. W...
Physicists say they have found a way to define a naked singularity
Black holes. Insanely dense cosmic objects with such powerful gravity that it bends space-time, and our current laws of physics, eventually creating a singularity. Fortunately, the universe protects us from these objects, creating...
Most jizneopisanie exoplanets are likely to be water worlds
More than 70 percent of our planet's surface is covered by water. To some this may seem excessive, but a new study makes a supposition that our world is in this respect a truly unique and unique as you would think. The fact that t...
China began testing a competitor's Airbus A320 aircraft of its own production
the Comac C919 Aircraft is developed by Chinese company, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China in 2009. This uzkofjuzeljazhnyh the aircraft is 168 seats, but in the future engineers plan to develop other models based on it, wit...
Suddenly: why lions-cannibals prefer people food?
In 1898 the attempt of the British to build a railway bridge across the gorge in Tsavo, Kenya, ended in a fiasco when a pair of lions began to catch working one… eat them. Obviously, workers who have not eaten, was not happy...
Scientists are faced with an unknown atmospheric phenomenon
Meet "Steve" recently detected an unknown atmospheric phenomenon. It is so unusual, that still has no official scientific explanation. Here, incidentally, is apparently an unusual name. Thanks to the continuous work conducted over...
Over the past 10 years, due to the method of so-called deep learning, we have the best artificial intelligence system — for example, speech recognizers on smartphones or the latest automatic translator Google. Deep learning, in fa...
Scientists found out why the AI might be racist and sexist
the Failed experiment of Microsoft, with its AI algorithm Tay (Tay), who within 24 hours after the beginning of interaction with people from Twitter has turned into a hardened racist, showed that the newly emerging AI systems can ...
SETI: aliens don't make contact, but we'll still find
Some researchers from the Institute for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) believe that the best way of detecting aliens is scanning the cosmos and the search for laser beams. In one of the last major studies of t...
Astronomers have found another "perfect" exoplanet
nowadays, astronomers are beginning to find potentially habitable exoplanets, but the latest find could be the most intriguing. The planet is called LHS 1140b, it is a bit more Land and is located approximately 40 light years from...
Comments (0)
This article has no comment, be the first!