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    Improved Water Splitting advances Renewable Energy Conversion

    October 25, 2016, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Technology/Electronics

    Improved water splitting advances renewable energy conversion

    Gas bubbles form as researchers use a unique catalyst to convert water to hydrogen and oxygen. The inset image shows the catalytic materials at the nanoscale. Credit: Washington State University

     
    WSU researchers have found a way to more efficiently create hydrogen from water – an important key in making renewable energy production and storage viable. The researchers, led by professors Yuehe Lin and Scott Beckman in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have developed a catalyst from #low #cost materials. It performs as well as or better than catalysts made from precious metals that are used for the process. Energy conversion is a key to the clean energy economy...
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    Jupiter’s moon: Europa’s Ocean may have an Earthlike Chemical Balance

    May 18, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    On present-day Europa, the researchers expect water could reach as deep as 25 kilometers (15 miles) into the rocky interior, driving key chemical reactions throughout a deeper fraction of Europa's seafloor. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    On present-day Europa, the researchers expect water could reach as deep as 25 kilometers (15 miles) into the rocky interior, driving key chemical reactions throughout a deeper fraction of Europa’s seafloor. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    The ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa could have the necessary balance of chemical energy for life, even if the moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, finds a new study. Europa is strongly believed to hide a deep ocean of salty liquid water beneath its icy shell. The answer may hinge on whether Europa has environments where chemicals are matched in the right proportions to power biological processes. Life on Earth exploits such niches.

    JPL scientists compared Europa’s potential for producing hydrogen and oxygen with that of Earth, through processe...

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    New technique for turning Sunlight into Hydrogen

    February 16, 2016, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Two-dimensional metastructured film with Titanium Oxide is fabricated as a photo-catalytic photoanode with exceptional visible light absorption. Credit: Copyright UNIST

    Two-dimensional metastructured film with Titanium Oxide is fabricated as a photo-catalytic photoanode with exceptional visible light absorption. Credit: Copyright UNIST

    A new multilayered (Au NPs/TiO2/Au) photoelectrode boosts ability of solar water-splitting to produce hydrogen. According to the research team, this special photoelectrode, inspired by the way plants convert sunlight into energy is capable of absorbing visible light from the sun, and then using it to split water molecules (H2O) into H2, O2.

    This multilayered photoelectrode takes the form of 2D hybrid metal-dielectric structure, which mainly consists of 3 layers of gold (Au) film, ultrathin TiO2 layer (20 nm), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)...

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    The Formation of Carbon-Rich Molecules in Space

    January 12, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The Formation of Carbon-Rich Molecules in Space

    A computer simulation of the formation of complex organic molecules in space. The spherical molecular structures forming on the graphene surface at 3000 K are similar in shape to fullerenes. The red atoms originated in the gas phase and the white atoms are from the surface. Credit: Marshall and Sadeghpour

    The space between stars is not empty, but contains an abundance of diffuse material, about 5-10% of the total mass of our galaxy (excluding dark matter). Most of the material is gas, predominantly hydrogen, but with a small and important component in complex carbon-bearing molecules including ethene, benzene, propynal, methanol and other alcohols, cyanides, simple amino acids, and even larger molecules (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and buckyballs) with 50 or more carbon atoms...

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