Researchers shed more light on conversion of water to hydrogen gas

August 29, 2005

Chemists are several steps closer to teasing hydrogen fuel from water using man-made molecular devices that collect electrons and use them to split hydrogen from oxygen.

Electrons are negatively charged particles that allow atoms to react and form bonds. Karen Brewer, professor of chemistry, announced at last August's ACS meeting that her group was able to use light to initiate electron collection and deliver the electrons to the catalyst site where they can be used to reduce water to hydrogen. "Light energy is converted to chemical energy," Brewer said.

In the past year, the group has come up with additional molecular assemblies that absorb light more efficiently and activate conversion more efficiently. "We have come up with other systems to convert light energy to hydrogen. So we have a better understanding of what parts and properties are key to having a molecular system work," Brewer said.

The researchers are working with the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is modeling what happens in the molecular systems after light is absorbed. "The AFRL researchers are interested in how light causes charge separation in large molecular systems. We have been working together to understand the initial stages of the light activation process in our molecular assemblies," Brewer said.

"Previously we concentrated on collecting light and delivering it to the catalyst site. Now we are concentrating on using this activated catalyst to convert water to hydrogen," Brewer said. "Once we know more about how this process happens, using our supramolecular design process, we can plug in different pieces to make it function better."

Jared Brown, of Salem, Va., presents the poster, "Multielectron photoreduction of mixed metal supramolecular complexes and their application in photochemical hydrogen production" (INOR 138), co-authored by Mark Elvington, of Blacksburg, and Brewer, from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28.

Elvington presents the poster, "Supramolecular ruthenium(II), rhodium(III) mixed metal complexes as photochemical molecular devices: Mechanistic studies investigating photoinitiated electron collection (INOR 388), co-authored by Brown and Brewer, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Poster sessions are in the Washington, D.C., Convention Center Hall A.

ACS summer fellow Shatara Mayfield from North Carolina A&T was awarded a fellowship to spend her summer working on this project.

Source: Virginia Tech


print this article email this article download pdf blog this article bookmark this article     Stumble it Digg this share on Facebook retweet share on Reddit add to delicious
Rate this story - 3.5 /5 (6 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • carwaterguide - Sep 18, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    hi,there

    i hope this site may be help many people.....Has anyone tried another water for gas kit?

    i think many people don't have to try something to understand that it works.
    I've seen facts on the news and all over the Internet, that running a car on water IS possible. Even that I haven't tried

    doing it, it doesn't mean that it's impossible.

    this is not spam but i want many people to see other choice.Has anyone tried the kit? like water4gas,runyourcaronwater etc.
    Is it really a scam? if you don't satisfy you can asked for refund..no more pain
    You can truly get better mileage....http://carwatergu...spot.com

    thank you very much for visit my site

August 29, 2005 all stories

Comments: 1

3.5 /5 (6 votes)
  • Stumble this up

  • Digg this

  • share this

  • hide
  • Related Stories

  • Researchers turn algae into high-temperature hydrogen source
    created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Imaging a catalyst one atom at a time
    created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • The Ring Nebula
    created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Chemistry Team Seeks to Use Artificial Photosynthesis and Nanotubes to Generate Hydrogen Fuel with Sunlight
    created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Component of mothballs is present in deep-space clouds
    created Sep 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Other News

AT&T and Verizon ads duel on airwaves and in court

Technology / Business

created 15 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- What would the holidays be without bickering between siblings? AT&T and Verizon are swamping TV with ads attacking facets of each other's wireless networks. While the ads stick fairly close to the truth, there's ...


The number of text messages that a mobile user in S.Korea can send out a day has been restricted to 500, down from 1,000

S.Korea halves ceiling on text messages to fight spam

Technology / Telecom

created 2 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

South Korean authorities on Wednesday halved the daily limit on text messages sent out by mobile phones as part of a campaign against spam, officials said.


Selling chip makers on optical computing

Selling chip makers on optical computing

Technology / Semiconductors

created 14 hours ago | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...


Facebook creates dual-class structure, but no IPO (AP)

Facebook creates dual-class structure, but no IPO

Technology / Business

created 10 hours ago | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Facebook has created a dual-class stock structure designed to give founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders control over the company.


Taking the drudgery out of software development

Taking the drudgery out of software development

Technology / Software

created 11 hours ago | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Software developers will no longer have to reinvent the wheel when writing new programs and applications thanks to a clever new set of tools and a central repository of 'building blocks'.