In Australia, RMIT University researchers developed a solar paint that can absorb water vapor and split it to generate hydrogen. The paint contains a newly developed compound that acts like silica gel, but unlike silica gel, the new material, synthetic molybdenum-sulphide, also acts as a semi-conductor and catalyzes the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen.
RMIT lead researcher Dr. Torben Daeneke said, “We found that mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-absorbing paint that produces hydrogen fuel from solar energy and moist air. Titanium oxide is the white pigment that is already commonly used in wall paint, meaning that the simple addition of the new material can convert a brick wall into energy harvesting and fuel production real estate.”
His colleague, Distinguished Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, said hydrogen was the cleanest source of energy and could be used in fuel cells and conventional combustion engines.