,
A working cell
from Switzer’s research, with gas evolution.
Photo by Sam
O’Keefe, Missouri S&T.
(September 14, 2015) Researchers
at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a relatively
inexpensive and simple way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through a
new electrodeposition method. The method produces highly efficient solar cells
that can gather solar energy for use as fuel.
The research, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy,
could lead to a sizable increase in the amount of hydrogen available for fuel
usage.
The Missouri S&T researchers describe their full method
in a paper published today (Monday, Sept. 14, 2015) on the website of the
journal “Nature Materials.”
“The work helps to solve the problem that solar energy is
intermittent,” says Dr. Jay A. Switzer, the Donald L. Castleman/Foundation for
Chemical Research Professor of Discovery at Missouri S&T. “Obviously, we
cannot have the sun produce energy on one spot the entire day, but our process
converts the energy into a form that is more easily stored.”
Switzer and his team use silicon wafers to absorb solar
energy. The silicon is submerged in water, with the front surface exposed to a
solar energy simulator and the back surface covered in electrodes to conduct
the energy. The silicon has cobalt nano-islands formed onto it using a process
called electrodeposition.