A new leaf appeared in a book on solar energy

A scientist at MIT announces that he created “one of the Holy Grails of science”: an artificial leaf that can be put into practice. This device, through a process similar to photosynthesis, creates electricity only from sunlight and water - by all accounts, ten times more efficient than a real plant leaf.

Daniel Nocera acknowledged that the fruit of his team’s labors is not the first artificial leaf in history: the honor of a pioneer belongs to John Turner of the National Laboratory of Renewable Energy. But Nocer said that while Turner’s development is expensive and unstable, the product of the Nocer team is inexpensive and proven to be capable of generating energy for 45 hours in a row.

The difference between this device is, according to Nocera, a new low-cost catalyst based on nickel and cobalt that he discovered. The catalyst helps release oxygen and hydrogen from the water, and energy can be extracted from the resulting gases in the fuel cell.

Nocera says that one such “leaf” in combination with a gallon of water (≈4.55 L) is enough to provide the household with energy during the day. It should be noted that he had in mind houses in developing countries, so that the amount of energy consumption there may be less than that of technically developed peoples.

They say that artificial leaf works with 76 percent energy efficiency.(in relation to the energy received to the absorbed sunlight). Compare with approximately ten percent efficiency of existing solar panels.

Nocera announced his achievement at a nationwide meeting of the American Chemical Society - that is, in the same place where technology was previously unveiled to control the flame or extinguish it using emitted electricity .

_{(Photo by Len Rubenstein, Spectrum , Massachussets Institute of Technology)}