Noncatalytic dissociation of MgO by laser pulses towards sustainable energy cycle

Abstract

We succeeded in dissociating MgO using laser pulses without a reducing agent. The energy efficiency from laser to magnesium reaction energy exceeded 42.5%. Although 1kW CO2 cw laser and Nd-YAG pulse laser are used in this experiment, the laser can be pumped by natural resources such as solar light or wind power. Thus natural resources are stored in the form of magnesium, which can be used through the reaction with water whenever we need the energy, and thus a renewable energy system will be established. This paper reports the preliminary experiments of MgO reduction toward a sustainable energy cycle.