A Curtin University research has identified a new, cheaper and more efficient electrocatalyst to make green hydrogen from water that could one day open new avenues for large-scale clean energy production.
Typically, scientists have been using precious metal catalysts, such as platinum, to accelerate the reaction to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. The new research has found that adding nickel and cobalt to cheaper, previously ineffective catalysts enhances their performance, which lowers the energy required to split the water and increases the yield of hydrogen.
“Our research essentially saw us take two-dimensional iron-sulphur nanocrystals, which don’t usually work as catalysts for the electricity-driven reaction that gets hydrogen from water, and add small amounts of nickel and cobalt ions. When we did this it completely transformed the poor-performing iron-sulphur into a viable and efficient catalyst,” lead researcher Dr Guohua Jia explained.
Our findings not only broaden the existing “palette” of possible particle combinations, but also introduce a new, efficient catalyst that may be useful in other applications.
Dr Guohua Jia, lead researcher, School of Molecular and Life Science at Curtin University
The researchers believe this discovery could have far-reaching implications for sustainable green fuel generation in the future. “Using these more abundant materials is cheaper and more efficient than the current benchmark material, ruthenium oxide, which is derived from ruthenium element and is expensive. It also opens new avenues for future research in the energy sector, putting Australia at the forefront of renewable and clean energy research and applications”, Dr Jia added.
Dr Jia said the next steps would be to expand and test the team’s work on a larger scale to test its commercial viability. He highlighted that, in Australia, only 21% of the energy in the national energy market is produced from renewables, so the country needs to make more efforts to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. “But this shift is only possible when the knowledge from the research sector gets translated into real-world solutions and applications in the energy sector”, he concluded.
Hydrogen is seen the best solution for decarbonising transport, but only 1% of the global production is actually “green”, while the rest still uses fossil fuels in the synthetisation process. Countries and companies alike are working to ensure hydrogen is produced from clean resources. France has partnered with Lhyfe to open the first offshore green hydrogen production plant in the world, while Airbus has recently invested in the world’s largest clean hydrogen infrastructure fund.
