Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

SrTiO3 mesocrystal light emission. Credit: Image courtesy of Kobe University

Hydrogen is an alternative source of energy that can be produced from renewable sources of sunlight and water. A group of Japanese researchers has developed a photocatalyst that increases hydrogen production tenfold. The discovery was made by a joint research team led by Associate Professor TACHIKAWA Takashi (Molecular Photoscience Research Center, Kobe University) and Professor MAJIMA Tetsuro (Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University). Their findings were published on April 6 in the online version of Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

When light is applied to photocatalysts, electrons and holes are produced on the surface of the catalyst, and hydrogen is obtained when these electro...

Akihiro Nomura, Kimihiko Ito, Yoshimi Kubo. CNT Sheet Air Electrode for the Development of Ultra-High Cell Capacity in Lithium-Air Batteries. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7: 45596 DOI: 10.1038/srep45596

A NIMS team led by Yoshimi Kubo and Akihiro Nomura, team leader and researcher, respectively, Lithium Air Battery Specially Promoted Research Team, C4GR-GREEN, developed lithium-air batteries with very high electric storage capacity 15X greater than the capacity of conventional lithium-ion batteries using carbon nanotubes (CNT) as an air electrode material. Demand for rechargeable batteries is expected to increase rapidly as electric vehicle power sources and joint sources of household electricity with solar cells.

The current lithium-ion batteries have advantages of being compact, producing h...

A waste material from the paper and pulp industry soon could be made into anything from tennis rackets to cars, according to new findings by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists.
Credit: Graphic courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife Research

Scientists have discovered how to make high quality carbon fiber from lignin. About 50 million tons of lignin – or structural part of a plant – piles up each year as waste from the US paper and pulping industry. Additional lignin could come from biorefineries that use plants to produce ethanol, yielding another 100 million to 200 million tons of lignin waste each year. Yet only about 2% of the lignin waste is currently recycled into new products. “Lignin is considered as one of the most abundant biopolymers in the world,” he said...

Although it is simple in theory, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is a complex process, requiring two separate reactions — a hydrogen evolution reaction and an oxygen evolution reaction, each requiring a separate electrode.

Discovery could remove hurdle to producing hydrogen from water. University of Houston physicists have discovered a catalyst that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, composed of easily available, low-cost materials and operating far more efficiently than previous catalysts. That would solve one of the primary hurdles remaining in using water to produce hydrogen. The catalyst, composed of ferrous metaphosphate grown on a conductive nickel foam platform, is far more efficient than previous catalysts, as well as less expensive to produce.

“Cost-wise, it is muc...