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A comment on Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum efficiency near 100%. Parent comment

Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by yholio on Saturday December 26, 2020 @04:13PM (#25546497)
There is no fundamental physics reason to use lithium, it's just the current best technological node. There are many technologies that are very promising in the lab, like carbon nanotubes, iron and sodium ion, aluminum-air etc. There is massive research in this area and if none of these technologies turn out to be economically superior to Li-ion in the near future, then they will certainly be available if, for environmental reasons, lithium becomes expensive.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/gadgets/news/130380-future-batte...

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Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by Hypx on Sunday December 27, 2020 @03:19PM (#25553911)
It’s times like these that people should realize that fuel cells are a type of battery. You can call them hydrogen-air batteries.
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Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by yholio on Sunday December 27, 2020 @10:54PM (#25556530)
That's not really accurate since the "electrolyte" changes phase requiring external storage (H2O -> gaseous H2) and the re-oxygenation step cannot be performed (yet) in the same device as the electrolysis.

It's not an electrochemical battery but I can agree with seeing it in a general sense as the an energy storage device, in the same way a dam is a "gravitational battery".

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Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by Hypx on Monday December 28, 2020 @01:25AM (#25557199)
You can perform both steps in the same device. It's just more efficiency to have a dedicated electrolyzer doing that elsewhere.
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