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A Promising Step Toward Round-the-Clock Solar Power
- emmelaich 12y agoNot mentioned is the lifetime of the electrodes and whether that is accounted for in the efficiency calculations.
- dnautics 12y agoActually it is mentioned. "For one thing, it only lasts a few hours before the solar cell performance quickly drops off." Interestingly there is a class of water splitting enzymes that also use nickel and iron... Oxidative inactivation by oxygen is a big part of their loss of activity. NiFe hydrogenases are odd beasts too, their nickels are attached to sufurs and their irons are attached to carbon monoxides, although CO prefers nickels and S prefers iron.
- dgacmu 12y agoPrevious commenter is right - the quote you pasted is about the lifetime of the solar cell itself, not the electrodes. Both are interesting and important. The article addressed only the lifetime of the solar cells.
- scep12 12y agoSounds similar to work by Dan Nocera at MIT: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/technology/the-artificial-leaf-is-here-again.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/technology/the-artificial-...
- fernly 12y agoVery unclear; it says "The device" -- speaking of the catalyst/electrode system that does the electrolysis -- "uses novel, relatively high-voltage solar cells to generate the needed electricity." Why? If you need a higher voltage, you connect more cells in series. Or, for experimental purposes, you connect to a transformer plugged into the wall. I do not see why the special and apparently short-lived perovskite solar cells are a necessary part of a new type of electrolysis system.