Science:
A silicon wafer the approximate shape and size of a playing
card turns sunlight and water into hydrogen and oxygen and may
provide a source of hydrogen fuel that's both easy to tap and
practically limitless. The new device isn't the first one
capable of splitting water, writes Robert Service for
Science, but it may be the most cost effective. Prior
attempts used catalysts that were very expensive or unstable.
Daniel Nocera of MIT has addressed these issues with a new
catalyst compound of three metals, and he and his team have
been using the device for a week with no drop in efficiency.
According to Nocera, the device converts 5.5% of the energy it
absorbs into hydrogen fuel. He has not revealed which metals
make up the catalyst; his work is not yet published.
