MIT TechTV - Tiny Bubbles

MIT chemists Daniel Nocera and Matthew Kanan have discovered a way to to convert sunlight into chemical fuel by using Cobalt to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. According to Dr. Nocera, water combined with light will split the hydrogen and oxygen in a water molecule, then recombining hydrogen and oxygen will produce energy and water. This means those pollution-free fuel cell vehicles already in the market will be able to acquire their fuel using a sustainable energy source instead of energy acquired from fossil fuels.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• tiny bubbles
• mit
• tech tv
• photosynthesis
• renewable energy

[mmaghfai]

@THeScoobyNoob haha sounds like a conspiracy theory to me mate. We can never know for sure What Stanley Meyer used in his fuel cell electrodes but you may be right. TBH I am tired of waiting for this technology. Haven't they made enough money from OIL yet? I mean Jeez already!

[mmaghfai]

yet another 'accident' discovery in the lab! I hope we will finally use some of this technology that we always see on telly! They have been talking about these alternative fuels for decades now. It's about god damn time they released it to the public!

[IsItTrue99]

I dont get it. Why is producing the oxygen important. It's it the hydrogen thats needed?

[fredlesson]

This was uploaded two years ago, dunno what happened since then

[shambles9]

@mmaghfai

I apologize for my mistake. However at on instance in the video they elude to the electrode being a dynamic surface, which means they'll want to construct phase diagrams which is also a considerable step. In any case I find your tone in bad taste considering this is a positive discovery.

[mmaghfai]

@shambles9 I do lab experiments as well buddy, so don't ASSUME I don't know what the lab is all about. Assumption makes an ASS out of U and ME.

[mmaghfai]

@shambles9 Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.[1] It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds. WIKIPEDIA buddy! KEY WORDS: Elucidating the chemical structure. Do I need to continue this argument? I mean we are talking about MIT where all the brains r

[shambles9]

@mmaghfai

That's not to say that I know how long research like this is supposed to take, which I don't. But I find your assertion that something is 'fishy' unfounded.

[shambles9]

@mmaghfai

Mass spectrometry will only provide information on the elements present in the electrode, which we already know is: cobalt, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and probably phosphorus. It will not necessarily reveal the structure of solids. As you can see in the microscopic view, you have the known elements creating different compounds at various phases, as metallurgy predicts. Expecting to use a scientific word and make a point? You clearly don't know how long this type of research takes.

[shambles9]

@Ayserk57

An ideal catalyst does not get used up in a given reaction. However, not all chemical reactions are complete and sometimes the catalyst can be used up in the reaction. In this case, I'm speculating as to how much of it is being used, or if the level of the catalyst is being monitored. If you need to resupply a catalyst to a reaction, then it is not a catalyst.

[MDS1007]

@mmaghfaj

It's likely a combo of oil company pressure and wanting to secure a grant that will keep them happy for the next 10 or so years ;)

[mmaghfai]

so let me get this straight....this is Massachusetts Institute of TECHNOLOGY Chemistry staff and they have no clue what the structure of the catalyst is? haven't they heard of mass spectrometry? to find out the exact shape of the molecules so that we can get this thing rolling already? Something fishy is going on here folks. They are also expecting the public to pursue these experiments otherwise why would they release very valuable information of something they just 'discovered'?