Self-improving material could rapidly accelerate the development of green fuels

0 1

By Matthew Griffin Earth and Energy 2nd July 2021

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

As the world weans itself off fossil fuels the new fuels we use need to be much greener to produce.

Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog.

Three years ago, scientists at the University of Michigan (UoM) discovered an artificial photosynthesis device made of silicon and gallium nitride (Si/GaN) that harnesses natural sunlight to generate carbon-free hydrogen fuel, known as green hydrogen, for fuel cells with twice the efficiency and stability of some previous technologies.

Lockheed Martin achieves first light of it's latest 50kw laser weapon system

Now, scientists at Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories – in collaboration with UoM – have uncovered a surprising, self-improving property in Si/GaN that contributes to the material’s highly efficient and stable performance in converting light and water into green hydrogen. And while this might not sound all that exciting the research, reported in Nature Materials, could help radically accelerate the commercialisation of both artificial photosynthesis technologies and hydrogen fuel cells, and help wean the world off of harmful fossil fuels faster.

Materials in solar fuels systems usually degrade and become less stable over time, and as a result they then produce hydrogen less efficiently until they altogether stop – but the team found an unusual property in Si/GaN that somehow enables it to become more efficient and stable over time.

This 3D printed material is stronger than anything produced by nature

Previous artificial photosynthesis materials are either excellent light absorbers that lack durability or they are durable materials that lack light-absorption efficiency – but this material is both durable and an excellent light absorber. Furthermore, silicon and gallium nitride are abundant and cheap materials that are widely used as semiconductors in everyday electronics such as LEDs and solar cells, said co-author Zetian Mi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UoM who invented the first Si/GaN artificial photosynthesis devices a decade ago.

When Mi’s Si/GaN device achieved a record-breaking 3 percent solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, he wondered how such ordinary materials could perform so extraordinarily well in an exotic artificial photosynthesis device – so he turned to senior author and Berkeley Lab scientist Francesca Toma for help, and this is the result.

Source: UoM

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.