PEMECAHAN (SPLITTING) MOLEKUL AIR MENJADI GAS H2DAN O2 MELALUI PROSES FOTOVOLTAIK

Abstract

One method to overcome the scarcity of alternative sources of energy on earth is through the development of photovoltaic cells. This method used a solar energy to electrical energy transformation. In this research, breaking (splitting) of water molecules into H2 and O2 gas by the photovoltaic process uses electrodes CuO/C with Na2SO4 electrolyte. In this process used 2 photovoltaic cells as electricity producing and U-shaped electrolysis cell for solver (splitting) of water molecule produce H2 and O2 gas. CuO electrode (anode) is made through the burning of copper rod in a furnace at temperature 400 oC with a variety of combustion 1, 3, 4 times each lasting for 1 hs, while the cathode in the form of carbon rods obtained from 2B pencil. The optimum conditions for Na2SO4 electrolyte concentration is 0.8 N and for CuO electrodes with 3x burning. Optimum efficiency photovoltaic process was 2.66%. H2 and O2 gas volume obtained near stoichiometric ratio is 2 : 1.