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Sat, 20th Jun 2020 15:41:00 |
For Green Hydrogen, Artificial Leaf Breathes Down Neck Of Electrolysis |
Hey, whatever happened to the artificial leaf? It was all the rage a few years ago, when scientists figured out that you could dunk a solar device in water, and out would come hydrogen gas — aka green hydrogen. But then, electrolysis kind of took over and the artificial leaf concept seemed to wither on the vine. And now all of a sudden it's back. What is going on??
Electrolysis Vs. Photoelectrochemical Reaction For Green Hydrogen
For those of you new to the topic, hydrogen is a zero emission fuel, but right now the primary source of H2 is fossil gas, but also right now there is a lot of activity going on in the field of electrolysis, in which hydrogen gas pops out of plain water when you apply an electrical current.
So much the better if you get that electricity from solar panels or wind turbines. Et voilà, green hydrogen.
That sounds simple enough. The main hurdle is the cost of the electrolysis equipment, which used to be sky high but now those costs have been sinking rapidly, and electrolyzers are already coming into play commercially.
Meanwhile, the artificial leaf concept has been swirling around in the laboratory, along with its "solar fuel" cousins the supersonic leaf and the bionic leaf.
The basic idea is to skip the electricity middleperson and spark a reaction in water directly, through solar energy. If you're thinking of a photoelectrochemical reaction, run right out and buy yourself a cigar.
The beauty of this direct solar-to-hydrogen is simplicity. A photoelectrochemical device requires no other inputs aside from solar energy, which means the technology could be dirt cheap, eventually.
Read original full article
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