研究人員開發新型有機設備：從水和陽光中獲取氫

　　中國科技網5月13日報道（張微 編譯）氫是一種有著很大應用潛力的新能源。西班牙海梅一世大學光伏和光電設備集團的研究人員已經開發出了一種有機裝置，僅僅用陽光就能用水生產氫。這些設備中使用的有機材料比現用的無機材料成本低，更高效也更具靈活性，但是當與水介質接觸時，它們的穩定性還存在些問題。一項發表在物理化學期刊上的研究成果提到，這些設備已經實現了優良的穩定性，這就表明從有機材料中獲取太陽燃料邁出了重要一步。

　　這項研究的合作者Sixto Giménez指出，“氫的生產能夠在3個小時內完成，證實有機材料的穩定性還為時尚早。”

　　有機光伏設備在水中易腐蝕而且很容易損壞。“我們的策略是在光伏組件和促進氫氣生成反應的催化劑之間安裝一個物理屏障。為了達到目的，我們用納米二氧化鈦材料制作了一個致密層，不僅作為水和光伏組件之間的屏障，也起到光伏部件和鉑催化劑間電力連接作用。采用這種方法，我們就可以在保持這些設備性能的同時，大大提高它們的穩定性，”安東尼奧 格雷羅研究員說。

　　從水和陽光中獲取像氫這樣的太陽燃料是解決全球能源問題的一項策略。“我們完全可以獲取可再生能源，就像從陽光和水中獲取氫這樣的高能燃料。此外，氫作為化合物在生產化肥或合成氫化合物等工業領域有廣泛的應用，” Giménez指出。

　　這項PHOCS(通過有機催化系統光催化生氫)計劃下的研究，已經得到了歐盟第七框架計劃的資助，旨在開發一種基于有機半導體材料的新設備，能夠進行水的光解，從而有效地生產氫。這項研究尋求使用低成本以及更穩定的材料來生產氫的最佳方法。

　　這個即將于11月完成的項目，存在一個很大的挑戰，就是要證明有機材料(塑料)可用于光電化學方法制氫，這個目標已經達到了。Giménez解釋道，“氫這種高能燃料可以被當作汽油，這種能源可以被轉換成電能和機械能。”這些太陽燃料“會讓你在不久的將來去加油站時，不用加滿汽油，而是加滿氫，這些氫能夠通過燃料電池轉化能電能，然后轉化為機械能。在這個過程中，水是唯一的廢料。”因此，這個研究項目有助于將現有的依賴化石能源的能源消費模式轉化為使用太陽能的尊重環境的可持續模式。

　　Researchers develop a novel organic device for obtaining hydrogen from water and sunlight

　　Hydrogen has great potential as a fuel. Researchers at the Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices Group at the Universitat Jaume I have developed an organic device reduces water into hydrogen using only sunlight. Currently, organic materials used in these devices offer greater versatility and efficiency at a lower cost than the available inorganic ones, but they show stability problems when in contact with an aqueous medium. A study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry achieves an exceptional stability in these devices and represents an important step in obtaining solar fuels from organic materials.

　　Sixto Giménez, coordinator of the research, noted, "The production of hydrogen has been achieved in three hours, demonstrating a stability of organic materials that had not been reached so far."

　　Organic photovoltaic devices corrode in water and damage very easily. "Our strategy has been to place a physical barrier between the photovoltaic component and the catalyst that makes the hydrogen generation reaction. In order to achieve this, we have deposited compact layers with nanometric titanium oxide material that not only acts as a barrier between the water and the photovoltaic part, but also connects electrically the photovoltaic part and the platinum catalyst. Using this strategy, we can greatly increase stability while maintaining the performance of these devices," said the researcher Antonio Guerrero.

    Obtaining solar fuels like hydrogen from water and sunlight is a strategy aimed at solving the global energy problem. "We can have totally renewable resources like sunlight and water for obtaining an energetic conductor such as hydrogen. In addition, hydrogen is a chemical compound with endless applications in industry such as the generation of fertilizers or the synthesis of hydrogen compounds," noted Giménez.

　　 The research has been developed under the PHOCS (Photogenerated Hydrogen by Organic Catalytic Systems) project, funded under the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union, which aims to develop new devices based on organic semiconductor materials to perform the photodecomposition of water, leading to the efficient generation of hydrogen. It seeks to optimize the use of cheaper and more sustainable materials for the production of hydrogen.

　　One of the main challenges of the project, which will finish in November, is to demonstrate that organic materials (plastics) can be used for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation, a target that has already been reached. Giménez explains, "Hydrogen can be used as petrol due to its high energy potential, an energy that can be converted into electricity and into mechanical energy." The use of these solar fuels "will allow you to go in the near future to a service station and, instead of filling up with petrol, you will be able to refuel with hydrogen that will be transformed into electricity via a fuel cell and then into mechanical energy. Water will be the only waste product." Thus, the research project contributes to the transition from the current energy model based on fossil fuels to a sustainable model that respects the environment focused on the use of solar energy.

張微