Eco Factor: Cost effective way to generate hydrogen using electrolysis of water.
Solar power can never be the primary source of power, unless cost-effective storage solutions are developed. For now solar energy is stored in batteries and ultracapacitors, both of which are expensive ways to store energy. A chemistry professor at MIT, Daniel Norcera, has developed an ingenious and a cost-effective way to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen. Taking a clue from nature, Norcera has tried to imitate the photosynthesis process of plants.
Previous attempts to use solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen have all proved to be too expensive because of the use of expensive electrocatalysts such as platinum. Professor Norcera eliminated expensive electrocatalysts with cheaper metals like cobalt. Cobalt readily dissolves in water and this makes it a poor electrode material. To remedy this, Professor Norcera added dissolved cobalt directly to the solvent and relied on the thin cobalt film that is formed on the electrode.
The device that Professor Norcera is envisioning is an electrolyser with cobalt as the electrocatalyst, which runs on solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen ions. This hydrogen is then fed into a fuel cell that runs everything from your plug-in hybrid to the appliances in your kitchen. Professor Norcera is now planning to extend his research with even better metals in an effort to enhance the electrolyser’s current density.
The Dark Side:
Professor Norcera’s research is being highly criticized. Some fellow researchers believe that he is simply overstating his results, and there are others who say that the current density is far too low for mass production. Moreover, electrolysis is an energy-inefficient process and most of the hydrogen produced during electrolysis is lost.
Via: DailyTech
