© Shutterstock
Scientists in Australia are closer to harvesting hydrogen from two of the most abundant and naturally occurring resources in our environment – seawater and sunlight.
Water oxidation, the first part of the water splitting reaction that can produce hydrogen, is difficult as it is so kinetically unfavourable. Using photocatalysts to overcome this energy barrier is appealing as sunlight can supply the required energy rather than needing electrical or thermal energy.
Unlike some photocatalytic water oxidation methods that use catalysts mounted on a semiconductor to form an electrode, a team, led by Jun Chen and Gerhard Swiegers, from the University of Wollongong, Australia, have shown that…
Continue reading the full article in Chemistry World »
Read the original journal article in Chemical Science:
A light-assisted, polymeric water oxidation catalyst that selectively oxidizes seawater with a low onset potential
Jun Chen, Pawel Wagner, Lei Tong, Danijel Boskovic, Weimin Zhang, David Officer, Gordon G. Wallace and Gerhard F. Swiegers
Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 2797-2803
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC50812A
