Monday, 21st March 2005 (3224 views)

A new technique which uses nano-scale pieces of gold and platinum has been developed as part of a process for enabling photocatalytic solar hydrogen production from water.

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories say they have harnessed the power of "porphyrin nanotubes", devising a method by which the tubes self-assemble, offering a series of important optical and electronic properties.

Using photocatalysis, these nanotubes can grow small deposits of metal when reacting to light in a platinum ion solution, allowing scientists to "grow" minute quantities of platinum, which can be harnessed for the production of energy.

By combining the process with an analogous method for generating gold, the research team has been able to create a photolytic nanodevice - with gold inside a nano-scale tube and platinum on the outside.

An inorganic photocatalyst that produces oxygen is attached to the gold contact, establishing a conductor for electrons between the oxygen and hydrogen producing elements of the device.

Experts say the process could be used to create ultra-efficient solar energy devices, but John Shelnutt, Sandia research team leader, acknowledged that they had "a lot of issues to resolve" before the process was refined.

"The broad objective of the research is to design and fabricate new types of nanoscale devices," he explained.

The work has been partially funded by a grant to the University of Georgia from the US department of energy.

 

« Back to Gold News stories

 

The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.