Researchers have developed floating ‘artificial leaves’ that generate clean fuels from sunlight and water, and could eventually operate on a large scale at sea.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, designed ultra-thin, flexible devices, which take their inspiration from photosynthesis – the process by which plants convert sunlight into food. Since the low-cost, autonomous devices are light enough to float, they could be used to generate a sustainable alternative to petrol without taking up space on land.
Outdoor tests of the lightweight leaves on the River Cam – near iconic Cambridge sites including the Bridge of Sighs, the Wren Library and King’s College Chapel – showed that they can convert sunlight into fuels as efficiently as plant leaves.
This is the first time that clean fuel has been generated on water, and if scaled up, the artificial leaves could be used on polluted waterways, in ports or even at sea, and could help reduce the global shipping industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. The results are reported in the journal Nature.
While renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar, have become significantly cheaper and more available in recent years, for industries such as shipping, decarbonisation is a much taller order. Around 80% of global trade is transported by cargo vessels powered by fossil fuels, yet the sector has received remarkably little attention in discussions around the climate crisis.
For several years, Professor Erwin Reisner’s research group in Cambridge has been working to address this problem by developing sustainable solutions to petrol which are based on the principles of photosynthesis. In 2019, they developed an artificial leaf, which makes syngas – a key intermediate in the production of many chemicals and pharmaceuticals – from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water.
The earlier prototype generated fuel by combining two light absorbers with suitable catalysts. However, it incorporated thick glass substrates and moisture-protective coatings, which made the device bulky.
“Artificial leaves could substantially lower the cost of sustainable fuel production, but since they’re both heavy and fragile, they’re difficult to produce at scale and transport,” said Dr Virgil Andrei from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, the paper’s co-lead author.
“We wanted to see how far we can trim down the materials these devices use, while not affecting their performance,” said Reisner, who led the research. “If we can trim the materials down far enough that they’re light enough to float, then it opens up whole new ways that these artificial leaves could be used.”
For the new version of the artificial leaf, the researchers took their inspiration from the electronics industry, where miniaturisation techniques have led to the creation of smartphones and flexible displays, revolutionising the field.
The challenge for the Cambridge researchers was how to deposit light absorbers onto lightweight substrates and protect them against water infiltration. To overcome these challenges, the team used thin-film metal oxides and materials known as perovskites, which can be coated onto flexible plastic and metal foils. The devices were covered with micrometre thin, water-repellent carbon-based layers that prevented moisture degradation. They ended up with a device that not only works, but also looks like a real leaf.
“This study demonstrates that artificial leaves are compatible with modern fabrication techniques, representing an early step towards the automation and up-scaling of solar fuel production,” said Andrei. “These leaves combine the advantages of most solar fuel technologies, as they achieve the low weight of powder suspensions and the high performance of wired systems.”
Tests of the new artificial leaves showed that they can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, or reduce CO2 to syngas. While additional improvements will need to be made before they are ready for commercial applications, the researchers say this development opens whole new avenues in their work.
“Solar farms have become popular for electricity production; we envision similar farms for fuel synthesis,” said Andrei. “These could supply coastal settlements, remote islands, cover industrial ponds, or avoid water evaporation from irrigation canals.”
“Many renewable energy technologies, including solar fuel technologies, can take up large amounts of space on land, so moving production to open water would mean that clean energy and land use aren’t competing with one another,” said Reisner. “In theory, you could roll up these devices and put them almost anywhere, in almost any country, which would also help with energy security.”
Original Article: Floating ‘artificial leaves’ ride the wave of clean fuel production
More from: University of Cambridge
The Latest Updates from Bing News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Artificial leaves
- Meta Platforms Spent $6.7 Billion on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Centers Last Quarter, but It Spent Twice as Much on This 1 Thing
That's a huge amount of spending, practically doubling Meta's annual capital expenditures from 2021. Investors balked at the idea of Meta spending so heavily to build out its AI. The market sent ...
- Why Super Micro Computer, C3.ai, and Other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Rallied This Week
With that as a backdrop, AI server specialist Super Micro Computer ( SMCI -1.83%), also called Supermicro, surged by 11.2% this week, AI solutions provider C3.ai ( AI 0.72%) gained 10.5%, and data ...
- AI-Led Tech Craze Leaves Mega Indian Software Stocks in the Dust
Shares of India’s vaunted IT outsourcing firms are facing a reality check, as global investors’ rush into the artificial intelligence theme starts to leave pricey old-economy tech stocks behind.
- Turkey in advanced talks with China's BYD, Chery for EV plants, Bloomberg News reports
Turkey is in advanced discussions with Chinese electric car makers BYD and Chery Automobile for factory investments in the country, Industry Minister Fatih Kacir said in an interview to Bloomberg News ...
- Walmart Is Selling a 'Gorgeous' Faux Olive Tree That's Shockingly Similar to a Pottery Barn Version That's Almost 10x the Price
Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and SI's Pat Forde discuss UNC potentially leaving the ACC, the Pac-2's new broadcast partner, the latest on the NCAA settlement, Doug Gottleib coaching college basketball, ...
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Solar fuel technologies
- New Solar Technology Converts Greenhouse Gases Into Valuable Fuel
A new photocatalyst developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University offers a green, efficient method for converting greenhouse gases into chemicals using solar power, marking a significant advancement in ...
- Sun, sustainability, and silicon: A double dose of solar fuel research
The race is on to develop a new generation of liquid fuels that are activated by sunlight, and Yale researchers are helping to lead the way.
- Schneider Electric Collaborates With Crux To Facilitate Purchase of 45X Tax Credits From Silfab Solar
Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, announced a collaboration with Crux, a sustainable finance technology company, to procure Section 45X ...
- Smelting Steel Without Fossil Fuels: Solar Power Shatters the 1,000°C Barrier for Industrial Heating
Swiss researchers have developed a solar energy method using synthetic quartz to achieve temperatures above 1,000°C for industrial processes, potentially replacing fossil fuels in the production of ...
- Energy company builds high-temperature concentrated solar systems for round-the-clock power: 'Trying to solve the problem of intermittency'
The technology, inspired by a high-temperature ceramic heat exchanger designed by company co-founder and MIT Professor Emeritus David Gordon Wilson, was in the works as early as 2010 after Wilson and ...