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Thursday, October 13, 2011

#ENERGY: "Artificial Leaf Turns Water Into Fuel"

As free as a water lily floating on a lake, solar-panels coated with a new catalytic material can harvest hydrogen fuel from ordinary water with no wires attached.



Many energy researchers have proposed using solar cells to generate electricity for electrolysis that splits water into its component parts--hydrogen and oxygen--which can then be used to power fuel cells. However, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has combined all those functions into a single free-standing unit, which generates fuel whenever it is submerged in water illuminated by the sun.
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