Another breakthrough is the transparent conductor made of a mixture of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which was able to replace the opaque metal electrode used in the past.

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When spot-welding, for instance, a robot has to touch the metal with an electrode.

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The CO2 reduction takes place on a metal catalyst at the opposite side of nitride semiconductor photo-electrode.(See Fig. 1) The metal catalyst plays an important role in selecting and accelerating the reaction.

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The result was that the electrode turned from oxide to metal in a way that would have pleased a medieval alchemist.

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Conveyor belts carried long, wafer-thin strips of metal into printing-press-like rollers, which coated them with electrode-active material.

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