Chandigarh [India], December 12 (ANI/PRNewswire): One of the greatest issues associated with obesity is a rebound.

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 20 (ANI): Amid growing protest over the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on essential commodities, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the state shall not impose Goods and Service Tax (GST) on items sold by Kudumbashree and small stores.

Karbi Anglong (Assam), March 25 (ANI): A drug trafficker was shot in his leg when he allegedly attacked policemen and attempted to escape from the police custody in Assam's Karbi Anglong district on Thursday night, police said on Friday.

Colombo [Sri Lanka], March 12 (ANI): The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the island country's monetary authority assured on Friday that the Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) which has seen significant volatility in the past few years will stabilize soon.

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 15 (ANI): The special squad of Guwahati Police arrested two drugs peddlers and seized 500 grams of heroin and 30,000 WIY (World Is Yours) tablets from a truck in Jorabat area on Monday, said police.

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 14 (ANI): A special squad of Guwahati police nabbed five persons belonging to a neighbouring state with half a kilogram of heroin at Khanapara on Monday.

Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) [India], February 12 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said 'not a single person was left to sleep empty stomach during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.'

New Delhi Sep 29 PTI A team of scientists has for the first time developed a reactor that produces a substantial amount of hydrogen using sustainable sources like sunlight and water which is a cost-effective and sustainable process the Department of Science and Technology DST said on WednesdayDevelopment of large-scale prototype reactors with photocatalysts suspended powders and a successful use of those in large-scale hydrogen production is under process it said in a statementThe development assumes significance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech had announced the launch of a National Hydrogen Mission to accelerate plans to generate the carbon-free fuel from renewables as he set a target of 2047 for the country to achieve self-reliance in energyIndia has set a target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030 To achieve this researchers are working towards renewable energy solutions that should be sustainable with a limited carbon footprintOne of the most economical ways to achieve this is to produce hydrogen at a large scale through photocatalytic water splitting It is the long-term persistent solution for the growing renewable energy needs and a low-cost economic process that will benefit the society in the longer termThus significant efforts from scientists towards achieving this goal are utmost necessary and an urgent need of the hourIn this direction Dr Kamalakannan Kailasam and his team including Professor Ashok K Ganguli Dr Vivek Bagchi Dr Sanyasinaidu Boddu Dr Prakash P N and Dr Menaka Jha from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology INST Mohali have developed a prototype reactor that operates under natural sunlight to produce hydrogen at a larger scale around 61 litre in eight hoursThey have used an earth-abundant chemical called carbon nitrides as a catalyst for the purposeThe process was attempted many times by several researchers using complex metal oxide or nitride or sulphide-based heterogeneous systems but it was very difficult to reproduce hydrogen in large quantitiesThe INST team employed the low-cost organic semiconductor in carbon nitrides which can be prepared using cheaper precursors like urea and melamine at ease in a kilogram scaleWhen the sunlight falls on this semiconductor electrons and holes are generatedThe electrons reduce the protons to produce hydrogen and the holes are consumed by some chemical agents called sacrificial agents If the holes are not consumed they will recombine with the electronsThis work is supported by the DST Nano Mission NATDP project and the related article has been published in the Journal of Cleaner Production recently The team is in the process of obtaining a patent for the technologyThe INST team has been working in this area of photocatalytic water splitting to generate hydrogen for quite some time nowThe energy crisis and ever-threatening climate crisis urged us to work on this promising way of hydrogen production through photocatalytic water splitting The stability and chemical flexibility of having different organic groups in carbon nitrides triggered us to work on these cost-effective organic semiconductor materials for sustainable hydrogen production Dr Kamalakannan saidThe INST team started from the lab-scale process to the bulk scale of developing the photocatalyst and hydrogen production through a large prototype reactorThe team is in the process of optimising the hydrogen production with effective sunlight hours in addition to the purity of the hydrogen moisture traps and gas separation membranes so as to hyphenate with the fuel cellsHydrogen generated in this manner can be used in many forms like electricity generation through fuel cells in remote tribal areas hydrogen stoves and powering small gadgets to mention a few Eventually they can power transformers and e-vehicles which are long-term research goals that are under progress according to the statement PTI PR RC