Artificial leaf can turn water into hydrogen energy and oxygen, with only sunlight - Polidicks

[quote]ScienceDaily (May 9, 2012) — A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf -- [b]a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy[/b] -- appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, [b]which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.[/b] Daniel G. Nocera points out that the artificial leaf responds to the vision of a famous Italian chemist who, in 1912, predicted that scientists one day would uncover the "guarded secret of plants." The most important of those, [b]Nocera says, is the process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.[/b] The artificial leaf has a sunlight collector sandwiched between two films that generate oxygen and hydrogen gas. When dropped into a jar of water in the sunlight, it bubbles away, releasing hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells to make electricity. These self-contained units are attractive for making fuel for electricity in remote places and the developing world, but designs demonstrated thus far rely on metals like platinum and manufacturing processes that make them cost-prohibitive. To make these devices more widely available, Nocera replaced the platinum catalyst that produces hydrogen gas with a less-expensive nickel-molybdenum-zinc compound. On the other side of the leaf, a cobalt film generates oxygen gas. Nocera notes that all of these materials are abundant on Earth, unlike the rare and expensive platinum, noble metal oxides and semiconducting materials others have used. "Considering that it is the 6 billion nonlegacy users that are driving the enormous increase in energy demand by midcentury, a research target of delivering solar energy to the poor with discoveries such as the artificial leaf provides global society its most direct path to a sustainable energy future," he says. The author acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation and the Chesonis Family Foundation.[/quote] [url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509123900.htm]Sauce[/url]

Science is cool!

[QUOTE=J!NX;35897793]Science is cool![/QUOTE] Science is fucking awesome.

so..it's not really a leaf, but two pieces of film that dissolve in water that was rather dissapointing.

For gods sake for the last time, no. Sunlight [B]is[/B] energy. Breaking water into into hydrogen and oxygen is photolysis, which in roundabout way is basically the analogical to photosynthesis, you just get the unbound hydrogen instead of getting it in form of a sugar. Saying it "produces energy" is bogus. It gets energy from light, and transforms it to break the water into two chemicals, eager to oxidize and reduce, so it basically "stores energy from sunlight into chemical potential". It's a nice tech, but nothing ground breaking, as we already have photoelectric cells, electrolysis of water, etc, it's just a nice engineering solution.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35897891]For gods sake for the last time, no. Sunlight [B]is[/B] energy. Breaking water into into hydrogen and oxygen is photolysis, which in roundabout way is basically the analogical to photosynthesis, you just get the unbound hydrogen instead of getting it in for of a sugar. Saying it "produces energy" is bogus. It gets energy from light, and transforms uses it to break water into two chemicals eager to oxidize and reduce, so basically "stores energy from sunlight into chemical potential". It's a nice tech, but nothing ground breaking, as we already have photoelectric cells, electrolysis of water, etc, it's just a nice engineering solution.[/QUOTE] I'm sorry I was paying full attention until you said bogus... Now I'm just thinking about Bill and Ted.

Rocket fuel now grows on trees :D!!

now they just need to research more and make a leaf that takes in carbon dioxide and puts out oxygen.

Sounds like a good hydrogen farm, though until we have good compression tech to render hydrogen in a liquid state, we still have problems prohibiting capacious hydrogen fuel systems. One of them being capitalist oil barons in their iron fortresses.

[QUOTE=ironman17;35898710]Sounds like a good hydrogen farm, though until we have good compression tech to render hydrogen in a liquid state, we still have problems prohibiting capacious hydrogen fuel systems. One of them being capitalist oil barons in their iron fortresses.[/QUOTE] A hydrogen powered & efficient gas compressor? Or have a farm of windmills + batteries power electric ones?

Looks like my made up invention for the physics class was not so made up after all. :eng101: Science rules.

why give science the credit when it's the scientists that do all the work. :eng101:

[QUOTE=AK'z;35899352]why give science the credit when it's the scientists that do all the work. :eng101:[/QUOTE] Scientists would be without jobs if it wasn't for science.

and now watch, as if by magic, that we never hear of this in use ever again

[QUOTE=Van-man;35899359]Scientists would be without jobs if it wasn't for science.[/QUOTE] Scientists wouldn't be scientists without science.

[QUOTE=AK'z;35899717]Scientists wouldn't be scientists without science.[/QUOTE] It's like chicken & egg all over again.

[QUOTE=Van-man;35899844]It's like chicken & egg all over again.[/QUOTE] No its not science has to come first.

Watch these leaves be the planet's downfall. I WARNED YE

[QUOTE=alien_guy;35900543]No its not science has to come first.[/QUOTE] What is science?

[QUOTE=AK'z;35899352]why give science the credit when it's the scientists that do all the work. :eng101:[/QUOTE] Scientists are part of science so by thanking science you are also thanking scientists as well as the scientific method.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;35898579]Rocket fuel now grows on trees :D!![/QUOTE] Getting rocket fuel would be better and more efficient than getting energy from this though, especially considering the common rocket fuels (dinitrogen tetroxide, hydrazine, liquid nitrogen and oxygen) can all be made at home. (Admittedly LN2 and LO2 is a bit harder, but possible)! :eng101:

[QUOTE=Kendra;35901189]Getting rocket fuel would be better and more efficient than getting energy from this though, especially considering the common rocket fuels (dinitrogen tetroxide, hydrazine, liquid nitrogen and oxygen) can all be made at home. (Admittedly LN2 and LO2 is a bit harder, but possible)! :eng101:[/QUOTE] Liquid nitrogen isn't rocket fuel. It's inert. Oxygen is used in rockets but isn't exactly fuel either. It's oxidizer. :eng101:

[QUOTE=mobrockers2;35900587]What is science?[/QUOTE] science is the logical standards and rigors employed by scientists

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;35901400]science is the logical standards and rigors employed by scientists[/QUOTE] Who create these standards?

Can you smoke it?

[QUOTE=alien_guy;35900543]No its not science has to come first.[/QUOTE] technically the analogy still applies because there's an obvious answer to both of them science and the egg

[QUOTE=sHiBaN;35901605]Can you smoke it?[/QUOTE] Most interesting question in this thread

[QUOTE=Cone;35901626]technically the analogy still applies because there's an obvious answer to both of them science and the egg[/QUOTE] Technically science and scientists came to exist at the same time, because as soon as someone did anything scientifically he/she would've been a scientist, and before someone was a scientist there was no science.

[QUOTE=Kingy_ME;35900596]Scientists are part of science so by thanking science you are also thanking scientists as well as the scientific method.[/QUOTE] But since science did nothing before scientists, I'll give the credit to the scientist. :)

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35897891]For gods sake for the last time, no. Sunlight [B]is[/B] energy. Breaking water into into hydrogen and oxygen is photolysis, which in roundabout way is basically the analogical to photosynthesis, you just get the unbound hydrogen instead of getting it in form of a sugar. Saying it "produces energy" is bogus. It gets energy from light, and transforms it to break the water into two chemicals, eager to oxidize and reduce, so it basically "stores energy from sunlight into chemical potential". It's a nice tech, but nothing ground breaking, as we already have photoelectric cells, electrolysis of water, etc, it's just a nice engineering solution.[/QUOTE] I'd like to argue the fact that is [B]is[/B] groundbreaking in the fact that no energy must be artificially produced to forcibly separate the hydrogen and oxygen, therefore making more viable to produce for use in systems such as hydrogen vehicles. This also makes it so that you could have such a system within your vehicle. Simply fill your car with purified water and this system does the rest. This, however, is ONLY if this sort of system separates water at a faster rate than hydrolysis.