A 2008 MIT chemist Daniel Nocera concocted a very simple, very cheap, robust, self-healing and non-toxic catalyst made from cobalt and phosphate that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Nocera's invention has attracted luminous scientists, venture capitalists, and now $4 million from the Department of Energy's ARPA-E funding program. Pure hydrogen, after all, is a wonderful thing to have -- as a fuel or as a feedstock for uncountable numbers of chemicals and fuels....
....Nocera's vision is of a solar-powered home with an energy storage device consisting of a bucket of water and his cheap water-splitting contraption. When the sun goes down, the hydrogen powers a fuel cell that runs your home. It's a nice idea, but for now Metcalfe says the company is simply focused on producing cheap hydrogen. Nocera's initial experiment worked, but it produced hydrogen at extraordinarily slow rates. Read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment