Stuart Licht

Stuart Lawrence Licht is an American chemist and academic. He is a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at George Washington University (GWU). Licht's research focuses on carbon capture to mitigate climate change and the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into nanocarbons and other useful society stables, as well as solar energy, battery chemistry, and physical/analytical chemistry.

His earlier works primarily focused on fundamental physical and analytical chemistry, high efficiency solar cells, and photo-electrochemistry. This included the use of cesium to increase solar cell voltage and solar cells that could store energy for night time use. Prof. Licht's focus expanded to include, electron transfer, batteries and fuel cells, including making the first practical aqueous sulfur batteries (overcoming sulfur inherited insulating properties), super iron batteries (based on iron molecules in a plus six oxidative state, which previously was thought impossible to stabilize), the assembling of micro-electrodes, vanadium diboride batteries and air batteries (redox of 11 or over 11 electrons per vanadium diboride molecule and has energy density over that of gasoline at times), and in 2013 the molten air battery.

After 2009, his work primarily shifted to focus on generating useful molecules, such as graphene nanocarbons (such as CNT, graphene, and CNOs), ammonia, iron, solar fuels such as sungas, and hydrogen using high temperature electrolysis where heat and electricity can come from either renewable or non-renewable energy. High temperature electrolysis per equations outlined in his STEP solar energy conversion process reduces the energy needed for electrolysis with higher efficiencies than that of a heat engine, and using available heat, exogenic reactions, concentrated reactants, and the use of high ionic activity electrolytes (molten salts) facilitates the predicted and observed highest levels of electrical to chemical energy and, separately solar and climate mitigation decarbonization conversion efficiencies. Provided by Wikipedia