International. Researchers at Australia's RMIT University have developed a solar paint that can absorb water vapor and split it to generate hydrogen, the cleanest source of energy.
The paint contains a newly developed compound that acts as a silica gel, which is used in sachets to absorb moisture and keep food, medicines, and electronics fresh and dry.
But unlike silica gel, the new material, synthetic molybdenum sulfide, also acts as a semiconductor and catalyzes the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen.
RMIT principal investigator Dr Torben Daeneke said: "We found that mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-absorbing paint that produces hydrogen fuel from solar energy and moist air." Titanium oxide is the white pigment already commonly used in wall painting, which means that the simple addition of the new material can turn a brick wall into energy harvesting and fuel production."
He added that "our new development has a wide variety of advantages. There is no need for clean or filtered water to power the system. Any place that has water vapor in the air, even remote areas away from the water, can produce fuel."
His colleague, Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, said hydrogen was the cleanest source of energy and could be used in fuel cells as well as conventional combustion engines as an alternative to fossil fuels.
"This system can also be used in very dry but hot climates near the oceans. Seawater is evaporated by hot sunlight and steam can be absorbed to produce fuel. This is an extraordinary concept – to make fuel from the sun's steam and water in the air."
Source: RMIT University.
