Solar cells get boost with integration of water-splitting catalyst onto semiconductor
Scientists have found a way to engineer the atomic-scale chemical properties of a water-splitting catalyst for integration with a solar cell, and the result is a big boost to the stability and efficiency of artificial photosynthesis.
Led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the project is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature Materials.
The research comes out of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub established in 2010 to develop a cost-effective method of turning sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel. JCAP is led by the California Institute of Technology with Berkeley Lab as a major partner.
The goal of this study was to strike a careful balance between the contradictory needs for efficient energy conversion and chemically sensitive electronic components to develop a viable system of artificial photosynthesis to generate clean fuel.
Read Full Story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161110085012.htm
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