Nanotechnology used for alternative energy study

Nanotechnology scientists in New York are aiming to improve alternative energy applications, it has been reported.

Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Centre for Functional Nanomaterials – located in Long Island – have focused their efforts on developing cleaner energy technology, according to New York University’s ScienceLine blog.

A "major research effort" is currently underway to design nanomaterial catalysts that create energy-efficient methods of producing power.

One project is aiming to generate clean-burning hydrogen fuel by producing a catalyst that splits water into its two components – hydrogen and oxygen.

It is essential that work at the site is undertaken in a clean room as dust will look like a "giant boulder" compared to the nanoparticles that the scientists work with.

Gold nanoparticles are particularly useful as a catalyst, as highlighted by recent work conducted by a team from Lehigh University, Cardiff University and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.