Scientists in the second week of May 2011 developed a new technique for artificial photosynthesis.
This discovery will make it possible to improve photoelectrochemical cells. In the same way that plants use photosynthesis to transform sunlight into energy, these cells use sunlight to drive chemical reactions that ultimately produce hydrogen from water. The process involves using a light-sensitive semi-conducting material such as cuprous oxide to provide the current needed to fuel the reaction. Although it is not expensive, the oxide is unstable if exposed to light in water.
The research team developed the technique by “growing” layers of zinc oxide and titanium oxide, one atom-thick layer at a time, on the cuprous oxide surface.
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