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| The illustration of hydrogen produced from seawater made by artist |
Technically speaking, seawater could be cracked so the hydrogen and oxygen are separated. To do so, one of the possible method is by utilizing the electricity, however, this method requires high energy so it can be considered as inefficient and ineffective. Therefore, the scientists of University of Central Florida came out with an idea by implementing the photosynthesis process which utilizes the solar radiation as energy to separate the hydrogen and oxygen. It turns out, this idea becomes one of the promising method in harvesting clean energy in term of efficient and less expensive costs.
Currently, the demands of clean energy are growing astronomically as the fossil fuels probably will be decreasing in the next few decades. The main source of utilization of fossil fuels is the transportation. To transport people from one place to another place, we need vehicles which are powered by the fossil fuel, however, the side-effects create environmental impacts as the quantities carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide become higher and higher. Consequently, global warming which can cause higher temperature threatens our planet.
Hydrogen as the main source of fuel for machinery
It has been considered for so long that hydrogen could become one of the most promising strategy in preventing global warming. By using hydrogen, the result is not greenhouse gasses, on the contrary, it generates water when the hydrogen is burned with oxygen. On the other hand, the raw materials – which is the material that can be processed for the hydrogen – are abundant, such as seawater or groundwater. But, why today’s society still does not utilize the hydrogen power optimize?
The answer lies on the facilities and infrastructures that support the hydrogen powered machinery. For instance, today’s equipment utilizes fossil fuels as the main source of energy while hydrogen powered engine is not yet to be found in common. The only transportation that uses hydrogen as its main power is rocket so hydrogen is considered as ineffective and inefficient.
Separating hydrogen and oxygen by solar radiation
Nature has taught us how to harvest energy. In photosynthesis mechanism, the solar radiation is utilized to perform photocatalytic reaction which can separate the hydrogen from the water bonding. The scientists considered that the solar energy could be utilized only extracting the hydrogen from seawater for purifying. However, as it is reported in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, the lead scientist, Yang and his research team were able to develop new catalyst for this reaction. As a result, the finding is not only about the energy harvesting but also to maintain harvesting in harsh condition.
Catalysts is used to accelerate the reaction without involving with the reaction itself. By performing typical catalysts such as titanium oxide which is etched by tiny nanocavities coating with molybdenum disulfide, the research team is able to boost certain spectrum of light which has typical energy so they could harvest the energy. Yang’s team also performed controlling of sulfur vacancy within size of nanoflakes in addition to harvest energy in certain wavelength in particular from ultraviolet-visible to near-infrared indicating the efficiency of the utilization of photocatalysts.
To be concluded, this method could become the most promising method as the material used for harvesting energy is abundant. Furthermore, the utilization of solar radiation as the main energy to do separating the bonding is considered as effective and efficient. More importantly, in processing the hydrogen, the catalyst is relatively easy and inexpensive implying that the hydrogen fuels will be possible in the future to harvest.
References:
[1] Image is downloaded from www.phys.org