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Wednesday, 10th February 2010 (3474 views)

Gold has been used by scientists at the University of East Anglia to develop a photoelectrode that could open the door to the development of environmentally-friendly solar powered hydrogen fuel cells.

A team led by chemistry professors Thomas Nann and Chris Pickett developed the device by coating a gold electrode in layers of indium phosphide (InP) nanoparticles, Nanotechnology Now reports.

An iron-sulphur complex is then introduced and, when submerged and exposed to sunlight under a "relatively small" electrical current, the system produces hydrogen with an efficiency of around 60 per cent.

Professor Nann said: "This relatively high efficiency is a breakthrough."

The incoming light is absorbed by the InP particles, which causes electrons to transfer to the iron-sulphur complex.

This causes a catalytic reaction that causes the complex to pass its electrons to the hydrogen ions in the water, which releases hydrogen.

At the heart of the device, the gold electrode replenishes the InP nanoparticles with electrons to keep the process going.

 

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