Photograph courtesy Dominick Reuter, MIT
Plants are so fantastic at converting energy into a storable form (by photosynthesizing water with sunlight into sugars) that scientists are striving to figure out a way that humans can mimic this basic process.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Daniel Nocera's artificial leaf device, seen above with some real leaves, is a step closer to making artificial photosynthesis possible.
Made of a silicon solar cell with catalytic materials bonded to each side, the cell, when placed in water, splits water into oxygen and hydrogen for later use in fuel cells. Unlike previous artificial leaves, Nocera's works in ordinary water and requires no wires or equipment. It is lightweight and portable.
If researchers could develop a simple system to collect and store the gases, each of us could have "personal energy" at our fingertips: The hydrogen and oxygen can be fed into a fuel cell that combines them once again into water while delivering an electric current.
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