In Re: Frozen smoke: Given the material\'s translucent structure, its strength, and its surface area, it would be a good candidate to support photocatalysts such as titanium dioxide or
tris bipyridine ruthenium. A cubic foot of the material should be sufficient to support enough photocatalyst on board a motor vehicle to generate sufficient hydrogen and oxygen from water to operate a fuel cell to generate electricity for the vehicle\'s electric motor. The translucence structure would enable sunlight, or electric lighting at night, to penetrate all the way through the material. A gas separation system would be needed to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen. Generating hydrogen and oxygen on board motor vehicles from water would obviate the need to establish hydrogen re-filling stations.
Note that I am writing about a photocatalytic system, not a photo-electrochemical system.
Water is the only portable, non-carbon fuel source in the world that is available in the huge quantities required to supplant gasoline and diesel oil. Water requires no exploration, drilling, refining, tanker transportation, service station infrastructure, mining, disposal of fly ash or nuclear waste. Futhermore, there would be no pollution of the atmosphere or our waters, and no atmospheric oxygen would be consumed.
Origo

What are its properties? Compressibility? Durometer hardness? Tensile strength? Could it be used for shock absorption perhaps, or especially due to its lightweight it could find applications in aerospace or bicycles? It might have ergonomic applications in seat/saddle padding, or what about its accoustic properties? Aircraft cabin lining, maybe? Is it flammable? Please tell us more!

I just wonder how real and practical the photo-catalytic suggestion is. If it can be done it is the ultimate invention. You have your cubic inch of titanium dioxide or tris bipyridine ruthenium doped MCNT aerogel, a gas separator and your place in the sunlight and there it goes your personal energy self-sufficiency for ever and ever and ever. A holy grail of off- grid living. Wow!

I wonder about ads on TV for your this magic cube.

Where can I order a piece of it? WHERE?

Origo1 - converting energy into hydrogen and trying to store it is a phenomenal waste of energy. Batteries are nearly four times as efficient.

Loz, in this particular case the talk is NOT about STORING energy (even though in general you are right and \"hydrogen economy\" is about storing energy in hydrogen more than anything else) but about PRODUCING it. Right on the spot turning sunlight into hydrogen (and anything else down the road, even electricity for your four time more efficient batteries.

As such (and not bothering to store hydrogen and solving all the issues around it) this would indeed be magnificent. On small scale for a single off-gridder or for utility to produce electricity (not necessarily hydrogen due to all the issues with it) on large scale. Or mid-range for hydrogen refilling station hydrogen car as Origo suggests (even though I also do not believe hydrogen cars would ever be practical) ...but it would bypass the hydrogen distribution step.

You are producing hydrogen (energy) with this system and not just using it to store energy derived from some other source.

spacey stuff for your future???

Wow, i\'m not a scientist nor advanced chemical theorist but, this article combines with the comments would suggest this as a big deal? My first question would be what is it made of, and how much energy did it take to make the amount in the photo? 2. how much of this material would need to be produced at a break-even point? Are there any military applications for this product and how can it be KEPT from such applications. If it is such a truly valid power source how long before it can be given away to countries under the boot of petro-politics?

As a matter of fact this was my original question on Origo1 whether this proces would be \"real\" and \"practical\".

As far as the latter is concerned, you will not be able to collect more energy then energy density of sunlight in your location, which is in the area of a kilowatt per square meter (ten sq feet) at noon. You cannot exceed this as you would produce energy out of nothing/create perpetuum mobile of the first (strong) kind. The real world efficiency would be at least an order of magnitude below that. This gives you hundreds of watts. Such a system would definitely NOT be able to drive your car (with you cubic foot of frozen smoke doped with catalysts). So the conclusion #1 is the proposal is not really practical. (You could use concentrators and do other tricks which would increase complexity of your set up and its cost, not a good thing to do).

The other question was if it is \"real\" by which I mean doable...if the photo catalyst would bond to the frozen smoke lattice and not washed out, if it would work at all... I cannot answer this part without specific knowledge and background.

This isnt as cool as the last thing i saw it is very awseome full of ever gabejh balls and stuipd stuff just wonder how real and practical the photo The real world efficiency would be at least an order of magnitude below that. This gives you hundreds of watts. Such a system would definitely NOT be able to drive your car (with you cubic foot of frozen smoke doped with catalysts). So the conclusion #1 is the proposal is not really practical. (You could use concentrators if it is \"real\" by which I mean doable...if the photo catalyst would bond to the frozen smoke lattice and not washed out, if it would work at all... I cannot answer this part