Create hydrogen fuel from sunlight and waste water

Recent scientists have found a way to create hydrogen gas from sunlight and waste water, which helps create a stable source of energy and improve water resources.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA, created hydrogen equipment by combining MFC fuel cell batteries and PEC photovoltaic solar cells, Science World Report reported.

In MFC components, bacteria break down organic matter in waste water and generate electricity. This current is then transferred to PEC to support the process of splitting hydrogen and oxygen from the water with solar energy.

The model produces hydrogen from waste water and sunlight in the laboratory.(Photo: University of California, Santa Cruz)

In fact, when being supplied with dirty water and lighting in solar devices, the process of generating hydrogen from PEC and MFC combined equipment takes place continuously with an average speed of 0.05m / day. . At the same time, during the process of creating hydrogen gas, wastewater also becomes less turbid. In addition, the targets and testing of chemical oxygen demand used to indirectly measure the volume of organic compounds in the water and assess the water source also decreased by 67% in 48 hours.

Scientists are planning to replicate equipment in the laboratory to create a larger device with a capacity of about 40 liters and continuously supply it with urban wastewater and conduct device testing on one water treatment factory. MFC will be integrated with existing water pipes of continuous wastewater treatment plants and PEC will be set up outdoors to receive natural sunlight.

PEC photovoltaic solar cells or MFC fuel cells can all be used to produce hydrogen gas. Although only small additional voltage is needed to produce hydrogen fuel, these two batteries still need voltage to reduce protons in hydrogen gas. Therefore the use of these two energy conversion devices is quite expensive and complicated.