中國(guó)科技網(wǎng)5月13日?qǐng)?bào)道（張微 編譯）氫是一種有著很大應(yīng)用潛力的新能源。西班牙海梅一世大學(xué)光伏和光電設(shè)備集團(tuán)的研究人員已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出了一種有機(jī)裝置，僅僅用陽(yáng)光就能用水生產(chǎn)氫。這些設(shè)備中使用的有機(jī)材料比現(xiàn)用的無(wú)機(jī)材料成本低，更高效也更具靈活性，但是當(dāng)與水介質(zhì)接觸時(shí)，它們的穩(wěn)定性還存在些問(wèn)題。一項(xiàng)發(fā)表在物理化學(xué)期刊上的研究成果提到，這些設(shè)備已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了優(yōu)良的穩(wěn)定性，這就表明從有機(jī)材料中獲取太陽(yáng)燃料邁出了重要一步。

　　這項(xiàng)研究的合作者Sixto Giménez指出，“氫的生產(chǎn)能夠在3個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)完成，證實(shí)有機(jī)材料的穩(wěn)定性還為時(shí)尚早。”

　　有機(jī)光伏設(shè)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(jìn)氫氣生成反應(yīng)的催化劑之間安裝一個(gè)物理屏障。為了達(dá)到目的，我們用納米二氧化鈦材料制作了一個(gè)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(shè)備性能的同時(shí)，大大提高它們的穩(wěn)定性，”安東尼奧 格雷羅研究員說(shuō)。

　　從水和陽(yáng)光中獲取像氫這樣的太陽(yáng)燃料是解決全球能源問(wèn)題的一項(xiàng)策略。“我們完全可以獲取可再生能源，就像從陽(yáng)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(chǎn)化肥或合成氫化合物等工業(yè)領(lǐng)域有廣泛的應(yīng)用，” Giménez指出。

　　這項(xiàng)PHOCS(通過(guò)有機(jī)催化系統(tǒng)光催化生氫)計(jì)劃下的研究，已經(jīng)得到了歐盟第七框架計(jì)劃的資助，旨在開(kāi)發(fā)一種基于有機(jī)半導(dǎo)體材料的新設(shè)備，能夠進(jìn)行水的光解，從而有效地生產(chǎn)氫。這項(xiàng)研究尋求使用低成本以及更穩(wěn)定的材料來(lái)生產(chǎn)氫的最佳方法。

　　這個(gè)即將于11月完成的項(xiàng)目，存在一個(gè)很大的挑戰(zhàn)，就是要證明有機(jī)材料(塑料)可用于光電化學(xué)方法制氫，這個(gè)目標(biāo)已經(jīng)達(dá)到了。Giménez解釋道，“氫這種高能燃料可以被當(dāng)作汽油，這種能源可以被轉(zhuǎn)換成電能和機(jī)械能。”這些太陽(yáng)燃料“會(huì)讓你在不久的將來(lái)去加油站時(shí)，不用加滿汽油，而是加滿氫，這些氫能夠通過(guò)燃料電池轉(zhuǎn)化能電能，然后轉(zhuǎn)化為機(jī)械能。在這個(gè)過(guò)程中，水是唯一的廢料。”因此，這個(gè)研究項(xiàng)目有助于將現(xiàn)有的依賴化石能源的能源消費(fèi)模式轉(zhuǎn)化為使用太陽(yáng)能的尊重環(huán)境的可持續(xù)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