#water splitting

[wayti-blog]

Scientists catch water molecules flipping before splitting

For the first time, Northwestern University scientists have watched water molecules in real-time as they prepared to give up electrons to fo

"For the first time, Northwestern University scientists have watched water molecules in real-time as they prepared to give up electrons to form oxygen.

In the crucial moment before producing oxygen, the water molecules performed an unexpected trick: They flipped.

Because these acrobatics are energy intensive, the observations help explain why water splitting uses more energy than theoretical calculations suggest."

"(...) researchers have become increasingly interested in water splitting as a way to produce clean hydrogen fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. To perform the process, scientists add water to a metallic electrode and then apply a voltage.

This electricity splits water molecules into two components—hydrogen and oxygen—without any unwanted byproducts. From there, researchers can collect hydrogen for fuel or repurpose the hydrogen and oxygen into energy-efficient fuel cells.

While water splitting could play a significant role in a future clean-energy economy, it faces several challenges. The main issue is that the oxygen part of the reaction, called the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), can be difficult and inefficient. Although it's most efficient when iridium is used as the electrode, Geiger said scientists need more affordable alternatives."

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[genesisnanotech]

All-in-one light-driven water splitting with a novel nanocatalyst (photocatalytic splitting of H2O molecules)

All-in-one light-driven water splitting with a novel nanocatalyst (photocatalytic splitting of H2O molecules)

Solar-powered water splitting is a promising means of generating clean and storable energy. A novel catalyst based on semiconductor nanoparticles has now been shown to facilitate all the reactions needed for “artificial photosynthesis”. In the light of global climate change, there is an urgent need to develop efficient ways of obtaining and storing power from renewable energy sources. The…

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[materialsscienceandengineering]

Hematite-based nanowire structures to enhance solar-to-fuel conversion in photoelectrochemical water splitting

ICN2 researchers led by ICREA Prof. Jordi Arbiol, in collaboration with the IREC and ICIQ, have produced a material for use in photoelectrochemical water splitting that is not only cheaper than existing alternatives, but increases both the efficiency and output of the process. Based on the integration of several materials into a multilayer nanowire structure, the research was featured on the cover of this month's Energy & Environmental Science.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a process whereby sunlight is harnessed in combination with specialised semiconductor materials to induce electrolysis and separate the hydrogen from the water molecule. With global climate change driving the need for efficient sources of sustainable energy, it is a topic that has received much attention in recent years. ICN2 researchers in collaboration with the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) have optimised the properties of the semiconductor material for more efficient and productive solar-to-fuel conversion.

Specifically, the semiconductor material is needed to absorb the solar energy and act as an electrode in the water splitting process. Hematite, a common semiconductor with a narrow bandgap ideally suited to absorbing the solar spectrum, is a possible photoanode. As an iron oxide (α-Fe2O3), hematite is among the most abundant minerals on Earth's surface and so is considerably cheaper than the gold and platinum typically used. However, issues relating to the flow of electric charge (namely, poor charge transport, surface charge recombination and slow charge transfer kinetics) have limited its practical application in PEC water splitting.

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[genesisnanotech]

New Material For Splitting Water: Halide double Perovskites - "All the Right Properties" for creating Fuel Cells

New Material For Splitting Water: Halide double Perovskites – “All the Right Properties” for creating Fuel Cells

Solar energy is clean and abundant, but when the sun isn’t shining, you must store the energy in batteries or through a process called photocatalysis. In photocatalytic water splitting, sunlight separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, which can then be recombined in a fuel cell to release energy. Now, a new class of materials — halide double perovskites — may have just…

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[materialsscienceandengineering]

New economic water-splitting catalyst, Ru@C2N

UNIST scientists have developed an exiting new catalyst that can split water into hydrogen almost as good as platinum, but less costly and found frequently on Earth.

As described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, this ruthenium (Ru)-based material works almost as efficient as platinum and likely shows the highest catalytic performance without being affected by the pH of the water.

The research team, led by Professor Jong-Beom Baek of the Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has synthesized Ru and C2N, a two-dimensional organic structure, to verify its performance as a water-splitting catalyst. With the aid of this new catalyst, entitled Ru@C2N it is now possible to efficiently produce hydrogen.

The technology for producing hydrogen from water requires a good catalyst for commercial competitiveness. These water-splitting catalysts must exhibit high hydrogen conversion efficiency and excellent durability, operate well under low-voltage, and should be economical.

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[tocarbonzero]

Hydrogen is often mentioned as an ideal alternative fuel. Better energy density than batteries, and the combustion product is water. Unfortunately, most commercial hydrogen comes from natural gas because water splitting is a slow, energy-intensive reaction. A group at Dongguk University hopes to change that, with a more efficient catalyst based on molybdenum and ruthenium. Full technical details here.

[renewtechchr]

Photocatalytic water splitting: Higher efficiency to go

Photocatalytic water splitting is an active area of research in materials chemistry. Photo-irradiated semiconductor materials provide electrons or holes to water to split oxygen and hydrogen. They can be used as photoanode (oxygen evolution) and photocathode (hydrogen evolution), (1) and sometimes both are combined or even connected to each other to directly produce oxygen and hydrogen at the…

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[crimsonpublishers]

A Recent Developments in Photocatalytic Water Splitting by TiO2 Modified Photocatalysts_Crimson Publishers

A Recent Developments in Photocatalytic Water Splitting by TiO2 Modified Photocatalysts by Amra Bratovcic* in Crimson Publishers: Peer Reviewed Material Science Journals

As populations grow, global energy consumption in the next 30 years is predicted to rise by nearly 50%. Nowadays and many years before, the most energy worldwide is provided by fossil fuel which leads to severe pollution and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Hydrogen is the most ideal alternative clean energy, but currently, there is no significant hydrogen production from renewable sources. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of new photocatalysts which will allow a water splitting for hydrogen production. The photocatalytic water splitting using TiO2 offers a promising approach for clean, low-cost, and environmentally friendly production of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel. This paper reviews some recently used methods of synthesis such as hydrothermal, rapid breakdown anodization method, impregnation method, and sol-gel synthesis for the preparation of modified TiO2 materials. These methods of synthesis provide the production of ultra-thin mesoporous TiO2 nanosheets, nanorods, and nanotubes as well as heterojunction structures. Some investigations show that introduction of Ti3+ atomic defects is beneficial for the photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen generation. Some progress has been achieved by hetero coupling the two or more semiconductors. There is experimental evidence that in the presence of alcohol as a sacrificial agent, H2 production rates decreased from a higher number of hydroxyl groups i.e. in order 3>2>1. The H2 generation is also larger when TiO2 is modified with the addition of small quantity of metal nanoparticles such as Pt, Pd, and Ni. One study has shown that the samples sensitised with Pt nanoparticles were superior to Pd and Ni modified TiO2, the other has shown that the co-catalyst activity followed the order Pd>Pt≈Au. 

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