Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

From the left, a mixture of gases, including CO2 (red and gray), N2 (blue), and H2 (white) are exposed to the nanoporous metal-organic framework designed by the Johnson group. Only the CO2 and H2 enter the MOF, which rejects the N2. The catalytic sites within the framework convert the CO2 to formic acid (red, gray and white), a chemical precursor to methanol. Credit: Swanson School of Engineering/Johnson Group

Technology that takes CO2 out of the atmosphere and turn it into valuable chemicals and fuels. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas releases carbon into the atmosphere as CO2 while the production of methanol and other valuable fuels and chemicals requires a supply of carbon...

The energy output of the new fuel cell design produces about 20 percent of what is possible in hydrogen fuel cells currently on the market, but the system is about 100 times more effective than biofuel cells that use related organic shuttles.
Credit: Matt Wisniewski

Fuel cells have long been viewed as a promising power source. These devices, invented in the 1830s, generate electricity directly from chemicals, such as hydrogen and oxygen, and produce only water vapor as emissions. But most fuel cells are too expensive, inefficient, or both. In a new approach, inspired by biology, a University of Wisconsin-Madison team has designed a fuel cell using cheaper materials and an organic compound that shuttles electrons and protons.

In a traditional fuel cell, the electrons and protons from hydroge...

This is a schematic representation of photocatalytic hydrogen production with InP/ZnS quantum dots in a typical assay.
Credit: Shan Yu

Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a nanoparticle type for novel use in artificial photosynthesis by adding zinc sulfide on the surface of indium-based quantum dots. These quantum dots produce clean hydrogen fuel from water and sunlight – a sustainable source of energy. They introduce new eco-friendly and powerful materials to solar photocatalysis.

Quantum dots are true all-rounders. These material structures, which are only a few nanometers in size, display a similar behavior to that of molecules or atoms, and their form, size and number of electrons can be modulated systematically...

How the solar flow battery works. Image: Li et al./Chem

Scientists in the United States and Saudi Arabia have harnessed the abilities of both a solar cell and a battery in one device – a “solar flow battery” that soaks up sunlight and efficiently stores it as chemical energy for later on-demand use. Their research, published September 27 in the journal Chem, could make electricity more accessible in remote regions of the world.

While sunlight has increasingly gained appeal as a clean and abundant energy source, it has one obvious limitation – there is only so much sunlight per day, and some days are a lot sunnier than others. In order to keep solar energy practical, this means that after sunlight is converted to electrical energy, it must be stored...