Search results for "hydrogen"
Sun converts carbon dioxide and water into high-energy fuels
For the first time, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the ETH Zurich have unveiled a chemical process that uses the sun’s thermal energy to convert carbon dioxide and water directly into high-energy fuels. This discovery marks a significant step towards the chemical storage of solar energy.
Scientists free fall to conduct experiment on nanoparticles
A team of material scientists from the University of Melbourne and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has shown for the first time how gravity influences the formation of crystals in Metal-Organic Frameworks. These are nano-sized synthetic structures riddled with molecular holes that are at the forefront of materials science.
Towards eco-friendly industrial-scale hydrogen production
What if industrial waste water could become fuel? With affordable, long-lasting catalysts, water could be split to produce hydrogen that could be used to power fuel cells or combustion engines. By conducting complex simulations, scientists showed that adding lithium to aluminum nanoparticles results in orders-of-magnitude faster water-splitting reactions and higher hydrogen production rates compared to pure aluminum nanoparticles. The lithium all...
Material can switch stiction and wetting with electricity
TU Wien (Vienna), KU Leuven and the University of Zürich have discovered a robust surface whose adhesive and wetting properties can be switched using electricity. This remarkable result is featured on the cover of Nature magazine. When rain falls on a lotus leaf, the leaf doesn't get wet. Thanks to its special structure, the water drops roll off without wetting the surface. Artificial materials can be made water-repellent, too. It is, howeve...
From launch to orbit
Launched nearly five years ago on 5th August, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida,NASA’s solar-powered spacecraft, ‘Juno’, has crossed the four largest Galilean moons of Jupiter (eponymously named after Galileo Galilei who discovered them in 1609) and has reached its destination; Jupiter. Follow Juno's mission from launch to orbit below.
Process makes affordable solar energy storage
The sun doesn't shine on the same spot all day, meaning solar panels produce energy intermittently. Solar energy researchers have been trying to store sunlight by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. A solar cell splits water with two electrodes, producing oxygen on one electrode, while generating hydrogen on the other. Now a simple process made an electrode that absorbs sunlight and produces oxygen on tiny cobalt islands on a silicon electr...
Photovoltaic cells replicate rose petals
Scientists of KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) reproduced the epidermal cells of rose petals that have particularly good antireflection properties and integrated the transparent replicas into an organic solar cell. This resulted in a relative efficiency gain of twelve percent. An article on this subject has been published recently in the Advanced Optical Materials journal.
Battery vehicle now viable for very long distances
The Tesla 3 gets nearly double the range of the Nissan Leaf by using nearly double the amount of battery but engineers are using a multitude of work rounds to do better: aerodynamics, lightweighting even including structural electronics where dumb structure is replaced by supercapacitors or solid state batteries. Add more efficient motors and powertrain. Fuel cell hybrids retain the cachet of most expensive solution with a long on-road charging t...
The latest advances on light harvesting potentials
Researchers for the first time have found a quantum-confined bandgap narrowing mechanism where UV absorption of the grapheme quantum dots and TiO2 nanoparticles can easily be extended into the visible light range. Such a mechanism may allow the design of a new class of composite materials for light harvesting and optoelectronics.
Measuring greenhouse gases from space
Space agencies examine the extent of greenhouse gases in the air via prisms and gratings in satellites. The latest technology now makes it possible to connect both components with each other so that they are suitable for space thus achieving a new level of quality for spectral resolution. In addition to industrial CO2 emissions, agriculture also contributes significantly to climate change: above all methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), which ar...