Creating Nitrogen from water, the natural way

August 26, 2008

waterResearchers have split water into hydrogen and oxygen by replicating how plants use photosynthesis to make carbohydrates.

The team of Australian and US researchers says their findings could lead to a cheap and easy way of making hydrogen, which many experts believe is the green fuel of the future.

Although scientists have been able to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for years, current techniques use expensive chemicals as the catalyst which prohibits any move to a commercial product.

This latest research is different in its approach to other water splitting research because it copies nature by using similar processes and chemicals to those used in plants.

The team plans to further that connection by using chlorophyll-like molecules to harvest light rather than an electric current.

From ABC Science