That doesn't mean the new photosheet is ready to go commercial just yet: The researchers need to make the process a lot more efficient first they are also experimenting with different catalysts that may be able to produce different solar fuels. While the new photosheet behaves in a similar way, it's more robust and easier to scale up – and it produces fuel that's more straightforward to store, too (last year's system created syngas). "It's been difficult to achieve artificial photosynthesis with a high degree of selectivity, so that you're converting as much of the sunlight as possible into the fuel you want, rather than be left with a lot of waste," says Wang.Ī team from the same lab was also responsible for developing an 'artificial leaf' material in 2019. Any extra waste produced has to be dealt with, which can negate the positive effects of the initial reaction. It achieves something that isn't always guaranteed in conversion systems like this – a clean and efficient process without any unwanted by-products. What's more, the resulting formic acid can be stored in a solution, and from there converted into different types of fuel as needed. Ultimately, they think these sheets could be produced in large arrays, similar to those on solar farms. While the prototype photosheet only measures 20 square centimetres (3 square inches), the scientists who invented it say it should be relatively easy to scale up without incurring huge costs. "Sometimes things don't work as well as you expected, but this was a rare case where it actually worked better."
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"We were surprised how well it worked in terms of its selectivity – it produced almost no by-products," says chemist Qian Wang, from the University of Cambridge in the UK. No additional components are required for the reaction to occur, and it's fully self-powered. Key to the innovation is the photosheet - or photocatalyst sheet - which uses special semiconductor powders that enable electron interactions and oxidation to occur when sunlight hits the sheet in water, with the help of a cobalt-based catalyst. The acid can either be used directly or converted into hydrogen – another potentially clean energy fuel. It does not store any personal data.The new device takes CO2, water, and sunlight as its ingredients, and then produces oxygen and formic acid that can be stored as fuel. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
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