Women on the Verge of a Solar Energy Revolution

One of the principal problems with using solar energy is that the sun only shines part of the day. When the sun is not shining, its energy cannot be used, unless it has been stored. A lot of methods have been proposed for storing the sun's energy after sundown, for later use.

One of the more interesting proposals has won a prestigious NSF award for Dr. Sherine Obare, a chemist at Western Michigan University. From WMU News:

Obare's project, "Rationally Assembled Nanoparticles for Multi-Electron Transfer Processes," seeks to create nanoscale materials that trap and store the sun's energy and use that energy to carry out chemical reactions for specialized purposes, including breaking down pollutants in groundwater and generating hydrogen for use as an alternative fuel. She is focusing on nanomaterials--materials organized atom by atom or molecule by molecule--because they are have unique properties that can be manipulated and exploited for important applications such as those.

The project is inspired by how nature is able to use intricate pathways to carry out important reactions, Obare says, noting as an example that plants use sunlight to carry out photosynthesis. But what makes her research novel is that she is using nanomaterials to store the energy as electrons, and then initiate chemical reactions even when sunlight is not present.

Very fascinating. Read the entire report here.

Another chemist who is pursuing research in a similar area of study is Dr. Norma Tacconi at University of Texas Arlington. From Dr. Tacconi's webpage:

The coupling of reduction and protonation is an essential feature in most natural light-activated energy-storing processes and these complexes may ultimately be capable of driving proton-coupled, multi-electron transfer reaction of the type desired for facile H2 production or O2 reduction.

These scientists are working to create chemical and nanoparticle complexes that can store solar energy in the form of electrons, for use in fueling chemical reactions of various types, including the generation of hydrogen, and breaking down pollutants.

Nature is prolific in generating energy from the sun, using photosynthesis. Science is learning to do similar tricks using solar power.