Tag: sun

Synchrotron light to study how sun radiation damages skin and hair

Synchrotron light to study how sun radiation damages skin and hair

Researchers from the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC) are investigating damage on skin and hair caused by ultraviolet sunlight. They have profited from the ALBA Synchrotron technology to see with high resolution and accurate detail the changes occurring at molecular level, not only at the surface of skin and hair, but also in their inner layers. The samples were previously treated with resveratrol, well-known antioxidant, to evaluate how effective is to develop new and better photoprotective treatments.

>Read more on the ALBA website

Solar–to-hydrogen conversion

Solar–to-hydrogen conversion

Polymeric carbon nitrides exhibit a catalytic effect in sunlight that can be used for the production of hydrogen from solar energy.

However, the efficiency of these metal-free catalysts is extremely low. A team at the Tianjin University in China, in collaboration with a group at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, has increased the catalytic efficiency of these polymeric carbon nitrides by a factor eleven through a simple process resulting in a larger surface area. The paper was published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

One of the major challenges of the energy transition is to supply energy even when the sun is not shining. Hydrogen production by splitting water with the help of sunlight could offer a solution. Hydrogen is a good energy storage medium and can be used in many ways. However, water does not simply split by itself. Catalysts are needed, for instance Platinum, which is rare and expensive. Research teams the world over are looking for more economical alternatives. Now a team headed by Dr. Tristan Petit from the HZB, together with colleagues led by Prof. Bin Zhang from Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, has made important progress using a well-known class of metal-free photocatalysts.

>Read more on Bessy II at HZB website

Image: PCN nanolayers under sunlight can split water.
Credit: Nannan Meng /Tianjin University

Solar hydrogen production by artificial leafs

Solar hydrogen production by artificial leafs

Scientists analysed how a special treatment improves cheap metal oxide photoelectrodes

Metal oxides are promising candidates for cheap and stable photoelectrodes for solar water splitting, producing hydrogen with sunlight. Unfortunately, metal oxides are not highly efficient in this job. A known remedy is a treatment with heat and hydrogen. An international collaboration has now discovered why this treatment works so well, paving the way to more efficient and cheap devices for solar hydrogen production.

The fossil fuel age is bound to end, for several strong reasons. As an alternative to fossil fuels, hydrogen seems very attractive. The gas has a huge energy density, it can be stored or processed further, e. g. to methane, or directly provide clean electricity via a fuel cell. If it is produced using sunlight alone, hydrogen is completely renewable with zero carbon emissions.

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