Copper Promises Cheaper, Sturdier Fuel Cells

November 22, 2013 05:59 PM EST By: Jennifer Rocha

Researchers at Duke University want to use copper to transform sunlight and water into a chemical fuel.

Story content courtesy of Duke University, US.

Converting solar energy into storable fuel remains one of the greatest challenges of modern chemistry. One of the ways chemists have tried to capture the power of the sun is through water splitting, in which the atoms of H2O are broken apart so the hydrogen may be collected and used as fuel. Plants do this naturally through photosynthesis, and for half a century, scientists have tried to recreate that process by tinkering with chemical catalysts jumpstarted by sunlight.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is one material they’ve commonly tried to use. Researchers prefer it for its transparency—which allows sunlight to pass through and trigger the water-splitting reactions—and its ability to conduct electricity. But ITO is far from an ideal material.

“Indium is not very abundant,” said Ben Wiley, assistant professor of chemistry at Duke University. “It is similar in abundance to silver in the earth’s crust.” As a result, solar fuel cells using ITO will likely remain expensive and uncompetitive with conventional energy sources like coal and natural gas, he said.

Wiley’s lab has created something they hope can replace ITO: copper nanowires fused in a see-through film. The team—including two postdoctoral researchers, a graduate student, and a former graduate student from Duke—published their new approach last month.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation Research Triangle Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (DMR-1121107), a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award (DMR-1253534) and a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship.

 

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