Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Devices made of readily available oxide and carbon-based materials can produce clean hydrogen from water over weeks — according to new research.

The findings, co-led by Dr Virgil Andrei, a Research Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, with academics at Imperial College London, could help overcome one of the key issues in solar fuel production, where current earth-abundant light-absorbing materials are limited through either their performance or stability.

Underexplored materials for light harvesting

Hydrogen fuel will play a critical role in the transition to full decarbonisation and reaching the UK’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050...

Researchers have identified an alternative to lithium-based battery technology by developing sodium glassy electrodes capable of supporting long-duration, grid-scale energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries are currently the preferred technology to power electric vehicles, but they’re too expensive for long-duration grid-scale energy storage systems, and lithium itself is becoming more challenging to access.

While lithium does have many advantages — high energy density and capacity to be combined with renewable energy sources to support grid-level energy storage — lithium carbonate prices are at an all-time high...

A new energy-efficient way to produce hydrogen gas from ethanol and water has the potential to make clean hydrogen fuel a more viable alternative for gasoline to power cars.

Washington State University researchers used the ethanol and water mixture and a small amount of electricity in a novel conversion system to produce pure compressed hydrogen. The innovation means that hydrogen could be made on-site at fueling stations, so only the ethanol solution would have to be transported. It is a major step in eliminating the need to transport high-pressure hydrogen gas, which has been a major stumbling block for its use as a clean energy fuel.

“This is a new wa...

Research could improve efficiency for storing renewable energy, making carbon-free fuels, and manufacturing sustainable materials. A team of energy researchers led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has invented a groundbreaking device that electronically converts one metal into behaving like another to use as a catalyst for speeding chemical reactions...