Latest Science News
Indian scientists develop Black Gold, wonder material that absorbs light and carbon
Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai have developed a completely new materialthat they call ‘black gold’, formed not by adding other materials or chemicals to the original precious metal gold, but just modifying the amount of space between each gold nanoparticle.
The ‘wonder material’ can potentially be used for applications ranging from solar energy harvesting to desalinating seawater.
The findings have been announced in the journal Chemical Science, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, media reports said.
“We have not doped gold nanoparticles with any other material or added other materials,” Vivek Polshettiwar, who led the research team, told 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,” he said.
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.
This black gold has the ability to absorb both light and carbon dioxide, something traditional gold can’t do. This is, thus, an entirely new material.
It can absorb the entire visible and near-infrared region of solar light, “because of inter-particle plasmonic coupling as well as heterogeneity in nanoparticle size”. This makes it perfect for use in high-efficiency solar panels.
Black gold could also act as a catalyst and could convert carbon dioxide into methane at atmospheric pressure and temperature using solar energy.
“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.
To study solar energy harvesting ability of the new material, researchers dispersed it into water and exposed the solution to light for one hour and the temperature of the solution was measured. The temperature of the solution with pure silica spheres rose to 38 degrees while the ones with different concentrations of black gold rose to 67 to 88 degrees. The maximum increase in temperature was attributed creation of thermal hotspots due to the heterogeneity of the particle sizes as well as optimum inter- particle coupling.
“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 could be helpful in mitigating the 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).
India News
Chandrayaan-3: ISRO postpones plans to reactivate Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover on September 23
After Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon on August 24, both Vikram and Pragyan functioned effectively for a duration of 14 Earth days. The Rover was put on sleep mode on September 2, while the Lander was on September 4.
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday postponed the plans to reactivate Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover to September 23.
After Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon on August 24, both Vikram and Pragyan functioned effectively for a duration of 14 Earth days. The Rover was put on sleep mode on September 2, while the Lander was on September 4.
They were put on sleep mode for approximately 16 Earth days before the lunar night enveloped the south pole of the Moon.
Speaking on Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover, Nilesh Desai, Director of Space Application Centre said that earlier we planned to reactivate the Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander on the evening of September 22, but due to some reasons we will do it on September 23, said Desai.
He further said a plan to take out the Lander and Rover from the sleep mode and reactivate it, adding that, we had a plan to move the Rover to almost 300 to 350 metres but due to some reasons, the Rover has moved 105 metres there.
In collaboration with MyGov, ISRO has invited the citizens to participate in the Chandrayaan-3 Mahaquiz. The step was taken with the motive to honour India’s amazing space exploration journey. This will help to explore the wonders of the moon and show our love and passion for science.
In order to participate in the Chandrayaan-3 Mahaquiz, the participants would be required to create an account on the MyGov website. There is a cash prize for the winners and it also allows individuals to download the certificate.
Earlier, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Pragyan rover also detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen, as expected.
ISRO also shared a graph of the observation on X, illustrating the temperature variation of the lunar surface at various depths, as recorded during the probe’s penetration.
India News
Aditya L1 successfully undergoes 4th earth-bound manoeuvre: ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organisation said that the Aditya L1 spacecraft successfully underwent the fourth earth-bound manoeuvre on Friday.
The Indian Space Research Organisation said that the Aditya L1 spacecraft successfully underwent the fourth earth-bound manoeuvre on Friday. This is India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun.
ISRO took to X, formerly Twitter and informed that the fourth earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN4) was performed successfully. ISRO’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation, while a transportable terminal currently stationed in the Fiji islands for Aditya-L1 will support post-burn operations, the Indian space agency added.
ISRO further said that the new orbit attained is 256 km x 121973 km. The next manoeuvre Trans-Lagragean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I), a send-off from the Earth is scheduled for September 19, around 02:00 Hrs. IST, it added.
ISRO’s Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space-based mission, that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1). This is located approximately 1.5 million km from the planet Earth.
Earlier, all three earth-bound manoeuvres were successfully performed in September month.
During the spacecraft’s 16-day journey around the Earth, the manoeuvres were performed. During this time, the spacecraft will gain the necessary velocity for its further journey to L1.
After completing the fourth earth-bound orbital manoeuvres, the ISRO’s Aditya L1 solar mission will further undergo a Trans-lagrangian1 insertion manoeuvre. This will mark the beginning of its nearly 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 Lagrange point.
Another manoeuvre to bind Aditya L1 to an orbit near L1 after arrival at L1 point. This is to be a balanced gravitational location between the Sun and the Earth.
Around L1, the satellite will spend its whole mission life in an irregularly shaped orbit in a plane roughly perpendicular to the line joining the Sun and the Earth.
On September 2, the Aditya L1 spacecraft was successfully launched by ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) from the Second Launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.
The Aditya L1 was successfully injected into an elliptical orbit of 235×19500 km around the Earth after a flight duration of 1 hour 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Latest Science News
Aditya L1 successfully undergoes third earth-bound manoeuvre, fourth to take place on September 15: ISRO
India’s first solar mission, the Aditya L1 spacecraft, successfully underwent its third earth-bound orbit raising manoeuvre on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
India’s first solar mission, the Aditya L1 spacecraft, successfully underwent its third earth-bound orbit raising manoeuvre on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru oversaw the orbit-raising manoeuvre, with Mauritius, Bengaluru, and Port Blair ground stations tracking the satellite during the critical operation. India’s first solar mission is now one step closer to its ultimate destination after this successful manoeuvre, with the satellite’s new orbit at 296 km x 71767 km.
ISRO shared this picture on its official Instagram page.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has scheduled the next manoeuvre for September 15 at around 2 am. The mission to study the sun, which is part of ISRO’s ambitious plans, was launched successfully on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft has already completed two orbital manoeuvres around the Earth and is set to perform one more before being placed in transfer orbit towards the Lagrange point L1. It is expected to reach its destination after 125 days. Earlier, the Aditya-L1 satellite shared a breathtaking image of the Earth and the Moon.
The spacecraft will observe the Sun from the Lagrange point 1 or L-1 point, which is located 1.5 million km away from the Earth. ISRO states that a spacecraft placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point can continuously view the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. This provides a significant advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real time.
The mission aims to study various aspects of the sun, such as the physics of the solar corona and how it is heated, the acceleration of solar wind, the coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, the temperature anisotropy and distribution of solar wind, and the causes of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and flares, as well as near-earth space weather.
The successful launch of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, carried by the PSLV rocket, is a remarkable achievement for ISRO, which is one of the leading space agencies in the world. Prior to the sun mission, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed near the south pole of the moon, making India the first country to achieve this feat in that region and the fourth on the moon’s surface.
