Political Ecology

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an attractive approach to capturing and storing the earth’s abundant solar energy influx. The challenging four-electron water-oxidation half-cell reaction has hindered this technology, giving rise to slow water oxidation kinetics at the photoanode surfaces relative to competitive loss processes. In this perspective, we review recent efforts to improve PEC efficiencies [...]

In search for future energy supplies the application of hydrogen as an energy carrier is seen as a prospective issue. However, the implementation of a hydrogen economy is suffering from several unsolved problems. Particularly challenging is the storage of appropriate amounts of hydrogen. In this context the utilization of carbon dioxide–formic acid for hydrogen storing [...]

In this study, anodized TiO2 electrodes are prepared and used as the photoanodes in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system designed to convert natural seawater into hydrogen with the assistance of an external bias, and their electrochemical and morphological properties were characterized, and correlated with the hydrogen evolution rate and photocurrent.In order to prepare light sensitized TiO2electrodes, [...]

In a paper posted online this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Cornell team reports that when its new nanoparticle catalysts carried out their job with hydrogen spiked with 2% CO, their performance dropped only 5% compared with a 30% drop for commercial catalysts. Although Abruña says it’s not clear why [...]

In this paper, energy and exergy analyses of the geothermal-based hydrogen production via thermochemical water decomposition using a new, four-step copper–chlorine (Cu–Cl) cycle are conducted, and the respective cycle energy and exergy efficiencies are examined. Also, a parametric study is performed to investigate how each step of the cycle and its overall cycle performance are [...]

Catalytic decomposition of methane is considered as a prospective pro-ecological method of hydrogen production. The main drawback of this method is fast deactivation of the catalyst by an inactive carbonaceous deposit formed in the reaction. In this study, a series of experiments have been made to check the effect of the presence of carbon dioxide [...]

Significantly, Long’s catalyst is also stable in the presence of impurities that can be found in the ocean, meaning that sea water can be used without pre-treatment. The team used a sample of California sea water in the system and found the results to be similar to the results obtained for water at neutral pH. [...]