Energy conversation

In the applications where the compactness of the energy conversion system is the determining factor as in the case of engines, it is important to know the quantity of energy contained in a given volume of the fuel-air mixture to be burned. This information is used to establish the ultimate relations between the nature of the motor fuel and the power developed by the motor it is of prime consideration in the development of fuels for racing cars. 

S. J. Valenty, in Interfacial Photoprocesses Energy Conversion and Synthesis, M. S. Wrighton, ed.. Advances in Chemistry Series No. 134, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1980. 

A. J. Nozik, in Photovoltaic and Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Conversion, F. Cardon, W. P. Gomes, and W. Dekeyser, eds.. Plenum, New York, 1981. 

There is a large volume of contemporary literature dealing with the structure and chemical properties of species adsorbed at the solid-solution interface, making use of various spectroscopic and laser excitation techniques. Much of it is phenomenologically oriented and does not contribute in any clear way to the surface chemistry of the system included are many studies aimed at the eventual achievement of solar energy conversion. What follows here is a summary of a small fraction of this literature, consisting of references which are representative and which also yield some specific information about the adsorbed state. 

Much use has been made of micellar systems in the study of photophysical processes, such as in excited-state quenching by energy transfer or electron transfer (see Refs. 214-218 for examples). In the latter case, ions are involved, and their selective exclusion from the Stem and electrical double layer of charged micelles (see Ref. 219) can have dramatic effects, and ones of potential imfKntance in solar energy conversion systems. 

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