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Max-Planck Institute: Spin-Powered Crystals: A Breakthrough in Clean Hydrogen Production
https://www.cpfs.mpg.de/3695333/20241125?c=1622021Spin-Powered Crystals: A Breakthrough in Clean Hydrogen Production
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Scientists have discovered an exciting new approach to generating clean hydrogen energy using a remarkable class of crystals that harness the quantum properties of electrons.
Water splitting — breaking water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen — is a promising pathway to sustainable energy. However, this process has long been challenged by slow chemical kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction that make hydrogen production inefficient and costly.
A groundbreaking international research team has now uncovered a game-changing solution. By using special crystals with unique intrinsic "chiral" structures—meaning they have a distinctive left or right-handed atomic arrangement—researchers have dramatically improved the water splitting process.
The topological chiral crystals, composed of rhodium and elements like silicon, tin, and bismuth, possess an extraordinary ability to manipulate electron spin. This quantum mechanical property allows electrons transfer to the oxygen generation in a highly efficient manner, significantly accelerating the overall chemical reaction.
"These crystals are essentially quantum machines," says Dr. Xia Wang, lead researcher from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. "By leveraging the unique spin properties of electrons, we've created a catalyst that outperforms traditional materials by a factor of 200." Prof. Binghai Yan adds: “We are aware that our catalysts still contain rare elements, however we are confident that based on our design scheme we will come up soon with highly efficient and also sustainable catalysts”
…
https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01674-9
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Scientists have discovered an exciting new approach to generating clean hydrogen energy using a remarkable class of crystals that harness the quantum properties of electrons.
Water splitting — breaking water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen — is a promising pathway to sustainable energy. However, this process has long been challenged by slow chemical kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction that make hydrogen production inefficient and costly.
A groundbreaking international research team has now uncovered a game-changing solution. By using special crystals with unique intrinsic "chiral" structures—meaning they have a distinctive left or right-handed atomic arrangement—researchers have dramatically improved the water splitting process.
The topological chiral crystals, composed of rhodium and elements like silicon, tin, and bismuth, possess an extraordinary ability to manipulate electron spin. This quantum mechanical property allows electrons transfer to the oxygen generation in a highly efficient manner, significantly accelerating the overall chemical reaction.
"These crystals are essentially quantum machines," says Dr. Xia Wang, lead researcher from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. "By leveraging the unique spin properties of electrons, we've created a catalyst that outperforms traditional materials by a factor of 200." Prof. Binghai Yan adds: “We are aware that our catalysts still contain rare elements, however we are confident that based on our design scheme we will come up soon with highly efficient and also sustainable catalysts”
…
(I believe the “factor of 200” is referring to speed.)
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