Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, may have created the ultimate hidden energy harvester: paint. The scientists developed a new compound that absorbs water vapor from the air, much like the silica gel found in shoeboxes. But unlike silica, the new material (synthetic molybdenum-sulphide) also acts as a semiconductor and water-splitting catalyst, meaning it takes water molecules and separates them into oxygen and hydrogen, a clean fuel source. The compound is more effective when mixed with titanium oxide, a white pigment often found in house paint.
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