CAPTION: Rice
University researchers have demonstrated an efficient new way to capture
the energy from
sunlight and convert it into clean, renewable energy by splitting water
molecules. CREDIT:
I. Thomann/Rice University
Process uses light-harvesting nanoparticles, captures energy
from ‘hot electrons’
(September 4, 2015) Rice
University researchers have demonstrated an efficient new way to capture the
energy from sunlight and convert it into clean, renewable energy by splitting
water molecules.
The technology, which is described online in the American
Chemical Society journal Nano Letters, relies on a configuration of
light-activated gold nanoparticles that harvest sunlight and transfer solar
energy to highly excited electrons, which scientists sometimes refer to as “hot
electrons.”
“Hot electrons have the potential to drive very useful
chemical reactions, but they decay very rapidly, and people have struggled to
harness their energy,” said lead researcher Isabell Thomann, assistant
professor of electrical and computer engineering and of chemistry and materials
science and nanoengineering at Rice. “For example, most of the energy losses in
today’s best photovoltaic solar panels are the result of hot electrons that
cool within a few trillionths of a second and release their energy as wasted
heat.”