Copper nanowires offer an efficient, inexpensive approach to
solar energy harvesting
Copper adorns the Statue of Liberty, makes sturdy,
affordable wiring, and helps our bodies absorb iron. Now, researchers at Duke
University would like to use copper to transform sunlight and water into a
chemical fuel.
Converting solar energy into storable fuel remains one of
the greatest challenges of modern chemistry. One of the ways chemists have
tried to capture the power of the sun is through water splitting, in which the
atoms of H2O are broken apart so the hydrogen may be collected and used as
fuel. Plants do this naturally through photosynthesis, and for half a century,
scientists have tried to recreate that process by tinkering with chemical
catalysts jumpstarted by sunlight.