Monday, January 31, 2011

Cheap, Clean Ways to Produce Hydrogen for Use in Fuel Cells? A Dash of Disorder Yields a Very Efficient Photocatalyst


 (Jan. 30, 2011) — A little disorder goes a long way, especially when it comes to harnessing the sun's energy. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) jumbled the atomic structure of the surface layer of titanium dioxide nanocrystals, creating a catalyst that is both long lasting and more efficient than all other materials in using the sun's energy to extract hydrogen from water.