July 29, according to the University of Illinois at Chicago website news that researchers of this school have designed a new type of solar cell which can directly convert the carbon dioxide in atmosphere into hydrocarbon fuel with the entire process being cheap and efficient, and helps to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels. This reaction of using solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into fuel is called artificial photosynthesis, which is also becoming the holy grail of green energy researchers. It is reported that the principle of this new type of solar cell is more similar to a plant, to output "syngas" of hydrogen and CO through the "artificial leaf" which can be burned directly and also can be converted into diesel or other hydrocarbon fuels with the equivalent cost of a gallon of gasoline. For years, scientists committed to exploring all kinds of efficient catalysts to reduce carbon dioxide, however, the relying on precious metals is still strong, or the very low reaction rate. This time, the development of new catalyst is more active, more capable, with the speed of 1,000 times faster than the noble metal catalyst, and 20 times cheaper.

 

Solar cell, also known as "solar chip" or "photovoltaic cell", is an optoelectronic semiconductor slice to directly generate power by using solar energy. As long as it is illuminated with light which meets its require, it instantly outputs voltage and generates electric current under the case of circuit. WO₃ is VI transition metal oxide which has the semiconductor property, and has very good prospects in the fields of catalysis, electrochromic, solar energy absorbing and stealth materials ect.. In recent years, researches and reports about WO₃ used in the solar cells are also very frequent, such as WO₃ dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells; tungsten trioxide prepared phosphotungstic acid porous anodic film of light dye-sensitized solar cell; and 2015 reported University of Texas at Arlington PEC developed a new type of battery, which the photo-electrode is mixed with WO₃ and titanium dioxide, and can storage electronic effectively for a long-term. We believe that greater breakthroughs of research and application for tungsten oxide used in the solar cells will occur in the future.