New Coating Helps Usher in Artificial Leaves

Mar-10-15 A new coating developed by a team at Caltech has brought us a step closer to artificial leaves able to harness sunlight to create hydrogen fuel.

The artificial leaf under development by the Caltech team is made up of two electrodes (a photoanode and a photocathode) and a membrane. While the photoanode harvests the sun to oxidize water molecules, the photocathode recombines the resulting protons and electrons to create hydrogen gas. Meanwhile, the membrane keeps the gases separated and collects it for delivery.

The technology has been in development for some time, but has been hindered by the electrodes' tendency to rust when exposed to water—and creating a functional protective coating has proved difficult. Until now. The Caltech team has created a nickel oxide film that is compatible with an array of semiconductor materials and far surpasses similar films. And most importantly, the film works well with the membrane, which is crucial for keeping the gases separated so they do not mix and explode.

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