Researchers at the University of Calgary have made a breakthrough in cheap and efficient catalysts for converting electricity into chemical storage through electrolysis. This could have a major impact in efficient use and regulation of power from renewable energy sources like wind farms and large scale solar energy power stations.
"This breakthrough offers a relatively cheaper method of storing and reusing electricity produced by wind turbines and solar panels," says Curtis Berlinguette, one of the study authors and associate professor of chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Energy Conversion.
Curtis Berlinguette and Simon Trudel from the University of Calgary Chemistry Department turned their attention to simpler and cheaper catalyst electrodes. They conducted laboratory tests using abundant metal compounds or oxides (including iron oxide or 'rust') to create mixed metal oxide catalysts having a disordered or amorphous, structure. The new catalysts they devised perform as well or better than expensive catalysts now on the market, yet theirs cost 1,000 times less.
