Earth’s ultimate energy was closer than we thought: it’s gold. Scientists see this discovery as the beginning of a new era. Looking for new forms of supply, we have already tested different forms of energy, such as the blue one we are going to test in Spain. This time, we could be facing the most decisive one.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 99% of the inhabitants of planet Earth breathe air that does not reach the appropriate quality limits, endangering their health. Every year, there are more than 13 million human losses worldwide due to preventable environmental causes such as air pollution.
This harmful level of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide often originates from the burning of fossil fuels, which is why the world is tirelessly searching for a new way to obtain energy.
Gold, the Earth’s Energy that Scientists See as the Future: It Could Change Everything
On earth there is a derivative of graphene and gold that may be just what we were looking for: goldene. It was discovered by chance and happens to facilitate the production of hydrogen. It has great potential for application in different fields, especially in batteries, where its integration is being investigated to improve efficiency and durability.
Let’s start by talking about graphene. Its significant energy density is one of its great advantages, since it can store more energy in less space, which represents a great superiority in portable devices and electric cars. It has a high conductivity, which allows faster charging times and a longer life by lowering degradation.
It could also considerably lower the overall weight of the battery, an aspect that, if we are talking about an electric vehicle, means that it provides greater autonomy. However, its large-scale, pure-form production faces technical and economic challenges that, for now, do not make its commercialization possible. It is crucial to investigate this issue in order to enjoy the benefits of graphene in batteries and other fields.
This is How Goldene, the Earth’s Ultimate Energy, Was Born: Decades of Researching to “Discover” It
A team of researchers at Sweden’s Linköping University has created an innovative material that they have named ‘goldene’. It consists of the integration of gold atoms in the structure of graphene, forming very thin sheets made up of a single layer of gold atoms. It is precisely this structure that has given rise to the name ‘goldene’, from the fusion of the words ‘gold’ and ‘graphene’ (taking their English names as a reference point).
The goldene fabrication process is carried out through the three-dimensional substrate, in which gold atoms are sandwiched between layers of titanium and carbon. Although it is a relevant finding for the energy sector, it came about by chance, as it was initially intended for other applications.
What makes goldene so attractive are its characteristics: durability, malleability and stretchability, lightness and transparency. Converting gold into a single-atom-thick structure endows it with semiconducting properties. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for using it in the production of hydrogen and the synthesis of valuable chemicals.
How is Goldene’s Creation Process? New Energy to be Developed on the Earth
The researchers uncovered the complex process of creating goldene and published it in the journal Nature. It starts with an electrically conductive ceramic called titanium carbide and silicon, distributed in thin layers. The initial intention was to coat the material with gold to fix an electrical contact.
However, when the component was exposed to high temperatures, the gold replaced the silicon within the base material, in a phenomenon known as ‘intercalation’. After some time of investigation, they added Murakami’s reagent. Finally, they succeeded in exfoliating the gold from the titanium carbide.
To stabilize the gold foils and prevent them from rolling up, a surfactant, a long molecule that separates and stabilizes the foils, was included. A process that resulted in goldene, the energy that could be coined as Earth’s ultimate. If you liked this article, you can’t miss what we have to tell you about the futuristic energy coming from Korea.
