Photocatalysts of the 100% efficiency water-splitting reduction half-reaction under visible light illumination.
Credit: Lilac Amirav, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Researchers Philip Kalisman, Yifat Nakibli, and Lilac Amirav at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel have published a paper on the perfect efficiency for the reduction half-reaction for splitting water in an issue of Nano Letters overshadowing previous techniques which yielded only 60% hydrogen production with visible light.
Water splitting occurs in two steps, an oxidation half-reaction where two H2O molecules are separated into four individual hydrogen ions and an O2 molecule, and a reduction half-reaction where the four hydrogen ions form covalent bonds into two H2 molecules in the presence of electrons. The second step is completed at perfect efficiency using 50-nm-long nanorods in an aqueous solution under visible light illumination. The light supplies the energy required to drive the reaction forward and the nanorods act as photocatalysts for the reaction. Within a stable system, this reaction has a turnover frequency of 360,000 moles of hydrogen per hour per mole of catalyst.
The major product of water splitting, hydrogen gas, is used to deliver energy in fuel cells. This alternative to fossil fuels emits only water providing safe and clean alternative energy to power automobiles and electronic devices that will not contribute to global warming. With this breakthrough in hydrogen production, fuel cell technology becomes a more viable source of alternative energy for the future.
Article
Nano Letters
Water splitting occurs in two steps, an oxidation half-reaction where two H2O molecules are separated into four individual hydrogen ions and an O2 molecule, and a reduction half-reaction where the four hydrogen ions form covalent bonds into two H2 molecules in the presence of electrons. The second step is completed at perfect efficiency using 50-nm-long nanorods in an aqueous solution under visible light illumination. The light supplies the energy required to drive the reaction forward and the nanorods act as photocatalysts for the reaction. Within a stable system, this reaction has a turnover frequency of 360,000 moles of hydrogen per hour per mole of catalyst.
The major product of water splitting, hydrogen gas, is used to deliver energy in fuel cells. This alternative to fossil fuels emits only water providing safe and clean alternative energy to power automobiles and electronic devices that will not contribute to global warming. With this breakthrough in hydrogen production, fuel cell technology becomes a more viable source of alternative energy for the future.
Article
Nano Letters
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