2024-08-07 06:00:10
Transforming sunlight and water into clean energy is the challenge taken up by researchers at Oregon State University with their new photocatalyst.
A team led by Kyriakos Stylianou of Oregon State University has developed a material that can efficiently transform the light of the Sun and water in hydrogen. This hydrogen can be used in the cars and in the manufacturing of many products.
Credit: Kyriakos Stylianou
Stylianou and his team worked on materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials are composed of metals and organic molecules, forming structures with tiny pores and tunable properties.
Researchers have used a MOF to create a catalyst that, when exposed to sunlight, quickly and efficiently splits water into hydrogen. The catalyst, called RTTA, is made of two materials: hydrogen oxide ruthénium and titanium oxide, doped with sulfur and nitrogen.
Among the different materials tested, RTTA-1 showed the best results, producing hydrogen very quickly and with high efficiency. In one hour, one gram of RTTA-1 produced more than 10,700 micromoles of hydrogen, efficiently using 10% of the light received.
This performance is due to the synergistic properties of the metal oxides and the surface properties of the parent MOF. This discovery shows the potential of MOF-derived metal oxide heterojunctions for practical hydrogen production.
Hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting is cleaner than the traditional methane reforming method. Although ruthenium oxide is expensive, the small quantities used in this catalyst could allow for cost-effective industrial application.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline materials composed of metal ions linked by organic ligands to form porous structures. These materials have a very high internal surface area and a high capacity forabsorptionmaking them ideal for many applications.
MOFs are distinguished by their ability to be custom designed, by modifying the metals and ligands used, to achieve specific properties. They are used in various fields, including:
– Gas storage: MOFs can store gases such as hydrogen or carbon dioxide efficiently due to their high internal surface area.
– Gas separation: Thanks to their pores of varying sizes, they can separate different types of gases.
– Catalyse: MOFs can serve as catalysts or catalyst supports to accelerate chemical reactions, such as the production of hydrogen from water.
– Decontamination: They can adsorb pollutants, making water and air cleaner.
MOFs are therefore very promising materials for applications in the field of clean energy and the environment, in particular for the storage and production of hydrogen, which contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse effect.
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