APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Artificial photosynthetic system
ADVANTAGES:
- High reaction rate keeps up with photon flux at high solar intensity
- Stable
- Uses abundant, inexpensive elements
- Conducive to scalable manufacturing
ABSTRACT:
Heinz Frei and Feng Jiao of Berkeley Lab have developed a visible light driven catalytic system for oxidizing water. Efficient catalytic water oxidation is a critical step for any artificial sunlight-to-fuel conversion system.
In the Berkeley Lab technology, nanocluster catalysts of either cobalt oxide or manganese oxide supported on mesoporous silica scaffolds are capable of oxidizing water molecules to oxygen, electrons and protons. By stacking many catalysts in a robust, inert support, the invention achieves a rate of 100 catalytic turnovers/second/square nanometer. Thus, the catalytic system can keep up with solar flux at ground level without wasting incident solar photons. The technology is stable and composed of abundant materials suitable for scalable manufacturing.
Click here for a video demonstration of the technology.
A viable artificial photosynthetic system that uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to a liquid fuel requires catalytic water oxidation efficient enough to keep up with the incident flux of solar protons. The system also must be durable, made of abundant materials and scalable to make it suitable for commercialization. Established water oxidation catalysts are made of Iridium (Ir) oxide or Ruthenium (Ru) oxide— elements in extremely limited supply. State of the art molecular catalysts using more abundant metals are unstable and cannot keep pace with solar flux. The Berkeley Lab nanocluster catalysts overcome these deficiencies and represent a promising component for a solar fuel conversion system.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Bench scale testing.
STATUS: Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-2832