For the storage of solar energy, hydrogen has been a real breakthrough in Central Florida University. With the help of the new nanomaterials, hydrogen can be isolated more and more efficiently from seawater.

Because the invention was made just in Florida, there is also a local economic dimension: there is silence both sunlight and sea water. The first commercial applications of the material may well come into use near its development site. This is also the objective of the research group that has developed it.

Associate Professor Yang Yang has worked harder to separate hydrogen from solar water for almost ten years. Separation is then required by a photocatalyst, a substance that accelerates the energy from light by using a chemical hydrogen separation reaction.

The newly-developed photocatalyst not only lasts for good sea water but is also able to utilize the sunlight energy in a much wider wavelength range than most photocatalytes. The trick was made by building a new kind of hybrid material on the bottom of the most widely used photocatalyst, titanium dioxide.

The material is based on an extremely thin titanium dioxide film, which scientists made chemically nano-sized openings. Small nano openings were coated in the next step with molybdenum disulphide flakes, two-dimensional material that is only one layer of atomic layer.

One good part of the storage of solar energy directly as hydrogen fuel compared to electricity produced by solar panels is to avoid the use of batteries as energy storage. Battery packs are used when charging and unloading the battery, which limits battery life. Instead, the energy that is captured remains in a storage that is stored and movable for a long time.

Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/nanolapimurto-aurinkoenergiaa-suoraan-vetypolttoaineeksi-6681069

More:
MoS2/TiO2 Heterostructures as Nonmetal Plasmonic Photocatalysts for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/EE/C7EE02464A?_escaped_fragment_=divAbstract#!divAbstract

Technology Research Center The unique Soletair pilot plant of VTT and Lappeenranta University of Technology uses carbon dioxide to produce renewable fuels and chemicals. The pilot plant is connected to the LUT solar power plant in Lappeenranta.

The aim of the project is to prove the technical operation of the overall process and to produce 200 liters of fuels and other hydrocarbons for research use. It is the only experimental plant in its kind, where the entire chain of processes from the production of solar power to the production of hydrocarbons takes place in one place.

The units in the pilot class unit are designed for decentralized, small production. Production capacity can be increased by increasing the number of units.

“The concept we are examining is an example of how the chemical industry can be electrified in the future. Fossil fuel burning must end by 2050, but the need for human hydrocarbons is not completely lost, “says Professor Jero Ahola of LUT.

VTT and LUT have invested over € 1 million in equipment. Research is funded by Tekes and a number of companie

Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6451-pilottilaitos-tuottaa-polttoainetta-hiilidioksidista

Cambridge chemists have developed a new catalytic approach capable of converting biomass into hydrogen gas using only sunlight as an energy source. The method converts lignocellulose, one of Earth’s most abundant biomaterials, into hydrogen gas and organic byproducts when in a basic water and in the presence of the cadmium sulfide/oxide nanoparticle catalysts.

Solar Power Harnessed to Generate Hydrogen
http://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/03/solar-power-harnessed-generate-hydrogen

A team of scientists have found a way to use solar power to generate a sustainable and relatively cheap fuel by using natural light to generate hydrogen from biomass.

“Lignocellulose is nature’s equivalent to armored concrete,” Kuehnel said in a statement. “It consists of strong, highly crystalline cellulose fibers, that are interwoven with lignin and hemicellulose which act as a glue. This rigid structure has evolved to give plants and trees mechanical stability and protect them from degradation and makes chemical utilization of lignocellulose so challenging.”

The hydrogen produced is free of fuel-cell inhibitors, such as carbon monoxide, which allows it to be used for power.

The research team used different types of biomass in their experiments including pieces of wood, paper and leaves that were placed in test tubes and exposed to solar light.

“Our sunlight-powered technology is exciting as it enables the production of clean hydrogen from unprocessed biomass under ambient conditions,”