Major Solar Power Breakthrough at MIT!

[Two Fister]

Sounds very promising for both solar and hydrogen economies!

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

Utilizes abundant materials in neutral water under ambient conditions.

Here's the abstract from Science published today:

Published Online July 31, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1162018
Science Express Index

Reports
Submitted on June 19, 2008
Accepted on July 18, 2008



In Situ Formation of an Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst in Neutral Water Containing Phosphate and Co2+
Matthew W. Kanan 1 and Daniel G. Nocera 1*
1 Department of Chemistry, 6-335, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, USA.


* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Daniel G. Nocera , E-mail: nocera@mit.edu



The utilization of solar energy on a large scale requires its storage. In natural photosynthesis, energy from sunlight is used to rearrange the bonds of water to O2 and H2-equivalents. The realization of artificial systems that perform similar "water splitting" requires catalysts that produce O2 from water without the need for excessive driving potentials. Here, we report such a catalyst that forms upon the oxidative polarization of an inert indium tin oxide electrode in phosphate-buffered water containing Co2+. A variety of analytical techniques indicates the presence of phosphate in an approximate 1:2 ratio with cobalt in this material. The pH dependence of the catalytic activity also implicates HPO42– as the proton acceptor in the O2-producing reaction. This catalyst not only forms in situ from earth-abundant materials but also operates in neutral water under ambient conditions.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1162018

Amazing what can be done when there is research money available for alternative energy research...

TF

[Fast Water]

Very big stuff.

[Cornbread]

Wow.

[Chrome Bumper]

It will be interesting to see how many watts per square foot it can deliver.

[freespool]

Thinking our way out of this energy crisis, instead of trying to drill our way out, now that's Yankee ingenuity at it's best.

[cooky]

Originally Posted by freespool

Thinking our way out of this energy crisis, instead of trying to drill our way out, now that's Yankee ingenuity at it's best.

Yes, Yes, Yes. I don't even think we can drill our way out of it.

[roadsend]

Originally Posted by cooky

Yes, Yes, Yes. I don't even think we can drill our way out of it.

I think we need both.
Solar is great, but will not do everything.

[cooky]

Originally Posted by roadsend

I think we need both.
Solar is great, but will not do everything.

I agree, oil is going to be an important aspect of our economy for some time. However, I have seen nothing to make me think that we can produce enough oil in this country to substanitively effect energy prices. The more rapidly we shift away from petroleum the better.

[Fast Water]

Originally Posted by roadsend

I think we need both.
Solar is great, but will not do everything.

True.

But with this new storage technique it will be able to do a lot more.

[Rank Amateur]

As long as it runs my compressor for my air car, I will be happy!

[Flatfish]

In about 1993, I read about this new thing on computers called 'internet'. It got a lot of press.

Alternative energy sources remind me of that.

[Lurp]

It seems like every time I read about some miracle discovery it is 10 years before we see practical application and when it hits the market it had to have so much expensive research and pass thru so many government regs then be approved by 5 or 10 government agencies
By the time we see it it is so expensive we can't afford it or some big company that is threatened by it either buys it or takes it to court and proves it was their idea then we never see it again
Time will tell

[happybrew]

Originally Posted by Lurp

It seems like every time I read about some miracle discovery it is 10 years before we see practical application and when it hits the market it had to have so much expensive research and pass thru so many government regs then be approved by 5 or 10 government agencies
By the time we see it it is so expensive we can't afford it or some big company that is threatened by it either buys it or takes it to court and proves it was their idea then we never see it again
Time will tell

Yes. Over-regulation will be the death of us.

[baltz526]

so this is a chemical battery able to store gigiwatts of electrical power from direct solar input through a catalist process. or is it able to make enough power to run a solar power weather station in death valley on 10acres of pool

[Fast Water]

Originally Posted by baltz526

so this is a chemical battery able to store gigiwatts of electrical power from direct solar input through a catalist process. or is it able to make enough power to run a solar power weather station in death valley on 10acres of pool

??

This is about using solar energy as an energy source to catalytically split water into H2 and O2 using a method similar to Natures photosynthesis where all the chemical ingredients involved are abundant and relatively inexpensive. Then, when needed, the gases are used in a fuel cell to produce electricity.

[Two Fister]

Originally Posted by Flatfish

In about 1993, I read about this new thing on computers called 'internet'. It got a lot of press.

Alternative energy sources remind me of that.

Yeah, those guys and gals at MIT and Science are real wackos...

Last time I checked the internet was kind of a big thing that deserved a lot of press.

There's always going to be folks looking for the black lining in a silver cloud. That's fine with me, but this is a major development as the problem with laboratory photosynthesis in the past has been extremely expensive materials and hostile environments that made the process too inefficient to be effective. You're not going to run to Wallyworld next week and pick up a "Solar Breakthrough in a Box" next week, but this is a significant development.

TF

[matttheduck]

inert indium tin oxide electrode

Darn! I think I have a couple of those in the garage!

[bladehorn]

I'd love it more if it were available right now for home use and if it were available at an affordable cost... I'm looking forward to going solar someday and the sooner the better.
Breakthroughs like this make me get even more excited to go solar

[Tilla]

Originally Posted by matttheduck

Darn! I think I have a couple of those in the garage!

You can buy them online.

[Lead Bouncer]

storage will increase the yield and reduce the cost of production. Large batteries are in development. The biggest benefit is, it reduces the amount of time, that other power production, like coal or gas fired plants need to be operating.

We could drill our way out. We just cant refine it fast enough. However, alternative energy would never get off the ground with cheap oil prices. I think we were set up, to stimulate alternative energy.

[baltz526]

i read it again. it is still a battery, a solar catalist battery that off gasses energy. the energy is stored in the liquid medium, released by the solar driven catalitic process. a battery

[Point-of-Sale Clerk]

This is not a solar cell but a cobalt based electro-catalyst.
The new phosphate/cobalt system makes the oxygen part of the water electrolysis more efficient. If the hydrogen side of the equation is also improved a hydrogen economy with plug in hydrogen hybrid cars is foreseeable
http://www.currentargus.com/ci_10081969?source=most_emailed

[MarlinMark]

If it makes energy it's not a battery. Batteries are energy storage devices, they don't make the energy that is in them.

[Chrome Bumper]

Technically its not a battery and doesn't make energy.
It converts solar energy into chemical energy.

The products could be used to make electricity using a fuel cell to charge an electric car.

Just saying.m Like I said, I wonder how many watts per square foot it could make.

Good old photovoltaics are up around 4 watts per square foot average over the day and year. They now cost about $14 per square foot.

If you store h2 and o2 in stationary tanks weight and volume are less of a issue than in vehicles.