According to foreign media reports, inspired by a chemical change in the leaves, scientists at the California Institute of Technology developed a new conductive film. With this membrane, the problem of using sunlight to break down water into hydrogen fuel will be solved. Semiconductors such as silicon are prone to rust and rust during the conduction process. The addition of a nickel oxide film can prevent rust and promote the decomposition of sunlight to obtain more fuels such as methane or hydrogen.
Sun Ke (Ke Sun), a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Chemicals chemistry professor Nate Lewis, looked at a new protective film sample in his hands that helped break sunlight into water. Hydrogen fuel.
"We have developed a new type of protective film that will enable solar energy to produce fuel with an unprecedented degree of efficiency, stability, and effectiveness. It is also very safe and will not produce explosive mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen." One of the co-authors of this invention at the University of Technology, Professor George L. Argyros Professor Nate Lewis, introduced their new results. This study was published on the online edition of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on March 9 this year and describes the new protective film in detail.
This film allows us to create a safe and efficient artificial photosynthesis system, commonly known as solar fuel manufacturing machines or "artificial leaves." "Artificial foliage" reproduces the process in nature where plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrate fuels.
The "Artificial Leaf" project of the California Institute of Artificial Photosynthesis Joint Center (JCAP) contains three main components: two types of electrodes - photoanodes and photocathodes and thin films. Photoanodes use sunlight to oxidize water molecules to produce oxygen, protons, and electrons, while photocathodes use photoanodes to produce protons and electrons that synthesize hydrogen. Membranes, usually made of plastic, are used to separate the two gases to prevent any possible explosion. Then at a certain pressure these gases are pushed into the pipe and collected.
Scientists have tried to use electrodes such as silicon or gallium arsenide to make electrodes on solar panels that can absorb light. However, the main problem is that these materials can easily oxidize, that is, rust, when they encounter water.
Previously, Louis and other scientists also tried to put protective films on these electrodes, but for a variety of reasons, the experiments failed. "The ideal protective film needs to meet many conditions, it must be chemically compatible with the semiconductor it covers, it is impermeable to water, it is electrically conductive, its transparency is high to ensure light transmission, it can be easily catalyzed to react, and it releases oxygen and fuel." Louis The scientific leader of the JCAP said that "producing a protective film that meets any of the above conditions is a major leap forward, and we have now done it all at once."
The Lewis team showed their nickel oxide films that can be used on a variety of semiconductor materials including silicon, indium phosphide, and cadmium telluride. Especially in the protection of photoanodes, the superior performance of nickel oxide films far exceeds other similar protective films. Last year, Louis made a very complicated film that was rather complicated. There is only one layer of nickel oxide film, and this film has two layers, the main component is titanium dioxide (TiO2), a natural compound commonly found in ingredients for sunscreen, toothpaste and whitewash.
One of Dr. Lewis's lab postdoctoral researchers, Ke Sun, said, “When I look at photo-anodes that can sustain 24, 100, or even 500 hours without degradation, I know that We successfully completed what a former scientist always ended in failure."
The new technology developed by the Louis team to produce nickel oxide films requires that the crushed argon atoms be placed in high-speed rotating nickel atomic particles in an oxygen-rich environment. In this process, "from the argon atom, nickel atom fragments are sputtered down to react with oxygen atoms to form an oxide of nickel that deposits on the semiconductor to form a protective film."
The key point is that this new type of nickel oxide film can be well matched with another important film. This film is responsible for separating the photoanode from the photocathode. The former releases hydrogen, and the latter releases oxygen and does not interfere with each other.
"Without this membrane, the photoanode and photocathode will be discharged too close together, and then meet with the live oxygen gas just released by themselves. This is definitely a good formula for an explosive," said Louis. With our nickel oxide film, you can create an artificial photosynthesis machine that does not explode relatively safely and lastingly.â€
Experiments are always away from the application. Louis reminded everyone that it takes a long time for artificial photosynthesis machines to enter commercial markets. Other parts of the system, such as the photocathode, are still not perfect enough.
"Our team is also working hard to perfect the photocathode," said Louis. "What we have to do now is to do both of these things to give us a complete picture of the artificial photosynthesis system and how it works. It's not easy." But fortunately, we have already had one of the key missing parts in the past half century."
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