MIT Professors: Sang‐Gook Kim, Yang Shao-Horn, and Alexie Kolpak
Masdar Institute Professors: Jamie Viegas, Mahmoud S. Rasras, and Ahmed D. Al Jaberi
The need to develop alternative and renewable energy sources is driven by the limited petroleum reserves in the world. Fossil fuels currently provide 85% of the US energy supply, with oil accounting for 39% of that total; natural gas, 24%; and coal, 22%. The use of fossil fuels in the world, which totaled approximately 110 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2004, is projected to increase about 60% by 2030, while it is predicted that global fossil fuel production will peak before 2030.
Sustainable production of hydrogen in large quantities has the potential to serve as an energy carrier at the core of a carbon neutral system of energy production and use. A promising route to this goal is to use the energy of sunlight for splitting water into its constituent elements, oxygen and hydrogen. Solar hydrogen produced by direct photocatalytic water splitting is a highly desirable, clean, and abundant source of clean energy. Hydrogen made in this way is suitable for use in fuel cells and thermal engines without further purification steps and massive chemical batteries for storage. The potential capacity for solar hydrogen generation is quite large. However, major scientific challenges still remain in improving the solar energy collection efficiency, since most catalysts cannot absorb and utilize the visible range of sunlight.
The objectives of this research include the development of critical technologies to achieve full spectrum use of solar energy for water splitting: optical nanostructure to trap visible light, interfaces for effective hot electron transport, high performance catalytic oxides to reduce the electrolyte into H2, investigation of feasible solutions through modeling, design and testing, construction of the water splitting system prototype, and the characterization of the individual components as well as the overall system performance.
The outcomes of this research will contribute directly to the social and economic goals articulated in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. Deployment of the advanced water splitting technology in Abu Dhabi and the surrounding regions of high direct global insolation will generate maximum system output and demonstrate how this technology will provide energy. This interdisciplinary and collaborative research focusing on viable and renewable fuel generation technology will provide an environment where new technologies are developed, commercialized, and expanded.
