Wednesday, January 18, 1984 ~ Developing new Fuels page7 Fo A team of scientists at Simon Fraser University will spend the next two years studying semiconductor ele- ctrodes in a research project which may _ yield cost- efficient alternatives to non- renewable fossil fuels. Headed by physicist Dr. Ray Morrison, director of SFU’s Energy Research In- stitute, and .funded by a $177,000 contract from the federal department of energy, mines and_ re- sources, the team hopes to find ways of improving the conversion efficiency of electrocatalytic reduction - a process that can be used to produce fuels such as meth- anol, a flammable liquid alcohol touted as a possible replacement for gasoline. Working with Morrison are Dr. Lionel Funt from the chemistry department and ‘Dr. Konrad Colbow from physics. Morrison, formerly with the Stanford Research In- stitute and the Honeywell Reasearch Centre, said re- search focussing on electro- catalytic and photocatalytic. fuel conversion on _ semi- conductors is a relatively new field. ‘‘There are only a handful of scientists around the world working on this ‘area and given the talents of people who compromise our team, I feel we can make a really significant contribu- tion to knowledge in this area and play a part in the quest for alternative fuels.”’ Semiconductors, the materials at the heart of the project, are a class of solids whose electrical conductivity is somewhere between that of a conductor and an insul- ator; being almost metallic and highly conductive at high temperatures and near- ly absent of conductivity at low temperatures. Examples of semiconductors are sili- con (used widely in micro- electronics), zinc oxide, gal- lium oxide and titanium dioxide. In recent years scientists have discovered that semi- conductors are valuable in electrosynthesis and can be activated by electrical or solar energy to cause chem- ical reactions in some mater- ials. To produce methanol, for example, carbon dioxide is infused in water contain- ing an abundance of pro- tons. A semiconductor elec- trode is used to deliver highly active electrons to the solution. As a result, hydro- gen atoms are formed and attach themselves to the carbon dioxide molecules, oxygen atom are removed and methanol is produced. There are still problems with the process, however, not the least being that efforts to boost production to commercial levels have been frustrated by a tendency for solutions to yield less useful materials instead of the desired fuels when too high an electrical current is used. ‘‘The general conclusions form previous studies are that the detailed mechanism is lacking and the yield is much too low for a practical utilization to be even con- sidered. The studies do show clearly that for many: systems the reaction is pos- sible. It is necessary, there- fore, to examine the reaction in more detail and to de- velope an improved elec- trode to increase the effici- ency of the reaction in its competition with other reac- tions such as surface re- combination and hydrogen evolution, and to increase the selectivity of the reduc- tion to methanol and meth- ane.”’ Morrison’s project will at- tempt to start from square one by studying the proper- ties of simple semiconduc- tors, such as silicon, to determine precisely what is involved in catalytic reac- tions. Team member Funt will focus his efforts on conduc- tive polymers used to cover semiconductor electrodes. The polymers serve to pro- tect the semiconductors from the solutions they are immersed in and it may be possible to put catalysts in the polymers to further en- hance catalytic reactions and fuel production.-And, Col- bow will look at complexes in the chemical solutions to determine how semiconduc- tor electrons interact. Morrison hopes that in- formation exchanges with Deb Polston, LNS other scientists working in - the field will benefit global research and accordingly, an NSERC application has been made by the SFU Energy Research Institute to bring a noted Israeli scientist to campus for collaboration. ‘It's not my factory that's polluting the lake. It’s all those dead fish that're doing it.’ Dean of science Dr. John Cochran said this latest pro- ject brings grants and con- tracts awarded to the Ener- gy Research institute in the past two years to $638,591, testimony to Morrison’s ef- forts and active leadership. The mystical hypnotic appeal of Reveen He’s more than a hypno- tist, he’s a showman. His charisma seems to envelope the audience within minutes after his appearance on the by Carl Svangtun stage. His performance is amazing to say the least. He has people singing, dancing, howling like Tarzan, and even attempting to speak foriegn languages. At this point in the show ot is obvious to everyone that this is no hoax. Reveen sends peole through the audience screaming about imaginary elephants and one man searches desperately for his wife Chloey, screaming her name as he runs through the theatre. This display is humourous to say the least, but why has he drawn such large crowds for the past 22 years? Poss- ibly, the mystique and the _element of encountering the unknown accounts for part of it. It seems that a good percentage of teh crowd had seen him before and had become devoted fans. Is that possibly a result of Reveen mentally suggesting to the audience that they should come back? Sitting in ones seat one does feel a certain amount of mesmerization as Reveen’s fluid voice reso- unds through the theatre. While Reveen claims on stage that he performs be- cause he enjoys it, he is not totally seperated from the commercial aspect of his trade. He offers a number of self hypnosis records to im- prove relaxation, quit smok- ing, an yes, even an album to improve concentration and study habits. The latter, if valid, could probably help some 90 per cent of students in this college. He also offers an overpriced ‘‘offic- ial Reveen souvenir prog- ram’’ for $5. One controversial aspect of Reveen’s act is the fact that he claims not to em- barass anyone on_ stage. Would you be embarassed to hug someone of your own sex on stage? If you are embarassed that easily go- ing up on stage is not for you. All in all, for $13 this is a show well worth seeing even if one is a devout skeptic. Reveen is not only a hypno- tist, but also has amazing stage presence, almost as if he hypnotizes the entire audience. By the way, if you are planning to see Reveen you will have to wait until next year as his last show was on the eighteenth of January.