Date:9/11/2011

-lined tubes, the efficiency of a system depends on how much surface area is available for reactions to take place. Scaling down the size of the channels to the micro and nano level allows for thousands more channels in the same available space, greatly increasing the overall surface area and leading to a radical reduction of the size needed (and ultimately the cost) for catalytic and other chemical reactions. Adding a light source as a catalyst to the directed flow of individual molecules in nanotubes allows for extreme control and high efficiency.

Their review in Nature Phontonics lays out several possibilities for up-scaling optofluidics, such as using optical fibers to transport sunlight into large indoor biofuel reactors with mass-produced nanotubes. They point out that the use of smaller spaces could increase power density and reduce operating costs; optofluidics offers flexibility when concentrating and directing sunlight for solar collection and photovoltaic panels; and by increasing surface area, the domain promises to reduce the use of surface catalyststhe most expensive element in many reactors.

'/>"/>

Contact: Michael Mitchell michael.mitchell@epfl.ch 41-798-103-107 Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne Source:Eurekalert

0 GOOD

Page: 1 2 3
Related biology news :

1. Genetic testing not cost-effective in guiding initial dosing of common blood thinner
2. October 2008 GEOLOGY and GSA TODAY media highlights
3. Agricultural research highlighted in Houston
4. Atomic-resolution views suggest function of enzyme that regulates light-detecting signals in eye
5. Can genetic information be controlled by light?
6. AGU journal highlights -- Oct. 16, 2008
7. Scripps research team sheds light on immune system suppression
8. Study sheds new light on dolphin coordination during predation
9. Spotlight on cosmetic ingredients conference
10. Polarized light guides cholera-carrying midges that contaminate water supplies
11. Study sheds light on genetic differences that cause a childhood eye disease