Indian Scientists Create 'Black Gold' That Can Boost Solar Panels, Solve Drinking Water Crisis

India is right up there on the list of one of the most polluting nations on the planet. In the past we haven't really done a lot to address that, but we are slowly but surely mending our ways and fixing the planet.

Luckily for us, there are scientists working on the problem, and their solution may involve India's favourite metal: Gold.

The research team at TIFR - Images courtesy: India Science WIre

Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai have developed a completely new material that they call 'black gold'. They've been manipulating the precious metal, but not by adding other materials or chemicals to it. Instead, they've just been modifying the amount of space between each gold nanoparticle.

The findings have been announced in the journal Chemical Science, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

"We have not doped gold nanoparticles with any other material or added other materials," explained Vivek Polshettiwar, who led the research team, while speaking to India Science Wire. "We varied the inter-particle distance between gold nanoparticles using a cycle-by-cycle growth approach by optimizing the nucleation-growth step, using dendritic fibrous nanosilica, whose fibers were used as the deposition site for gold nanoparticles,"

Basically, they sort of "grew" the gold in the exact nanostructure they wanted by laying a silica foundation first. The result is a black material, hence the name black gold gold. And though that's pretty cool by itself, it's not even the best part.

How does this black gold work?

You see, this black gold also has the ability to absorb both light and carbon dioxide, something traditional gold can't do. And by absorb light, we mean it's capable of absorbing both visible light and the near-infrared radiation from the Sun as well, making it perfect for use in high-efficiency solar panels.

As for carbon dioxide, it can be used as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide from the air into methane, at atmospheric temperature and pressure, using just the solar energy it captures.

"If we develop an artificial tree with leaves made out of back gold, it can perform artificial photosynthesis, capturing carbon dioxide and converting it into fuel and other useful chemicals," added Polshettiwar. The conversion from CO2 to fuel is currently low-yield, but the researchers believe it can be improved in future.

Because of its ability to absorb solar energy, the researchers also believe the black gold can be used in portable nano-heaters, which can convert seawater into drinking water. "Our results indicate the potential application of black gold in the purification of seawater to potable water via steam generation using solar energy under atmospheric reaction conditions," they said. This will no doubt solve our nation's looming drinking water crisis.

The research team included Mahak Dhiman, Ayan Maity, Anirban Das, Rajesh Belgamwar, Bhagyashree Chalke and Vivek Polshettiwar (TIFT); Yeonhee Lee, Kyunjong Sim and Jwa-Min Nam (Seoul National University). The study was funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

And make no mistake, this is a revolutionary breakthrough. Not only could it benefit us when it comes to generating renewable energy, it can also perhaps help solve our carbon emissions problem, at least when applied large-scale.