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They discover “by accident” a cheaper way to obtain green hydrogen

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They discover “by accident” a cheaper way to obtain green hydrogen

National University of Singapore (NUS)

National University of Singapore (NUS)

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has discovered, by chance, a cheaper way to produce green hydrogen by electrolysis, thanks to light.

In this time of energy transition in which we find ourselves, green hydrogen is acquiring an increasingly important role and may be key in the coming years to achieve the desired decarbonization of the planet. The problem is that it is very expensive to produce, but this can change thanks to an “accidental” discovery.

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has made an interesting discovery in a totally casual and fortuitous way and that could revolutionize the way of breaking down water to obtain hydrogen.

As we have already told you, hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element on the planet. It is present in 75% of matter, but it cannot be extracted directly from nature, but must be produced.

There are three ways to produce hydrogen and, depending on how it is obtained, we can talk about renewable hydrogen or not.

Green hydrogen is the one that is obtained using some renewable energy, through a chemical process called water electrolysis, which separates the oxygen and hydrogen molecules from the water.

But, as we say, the main drawback of green hydrogen is that it is very expensive to produce, much more than gray hydrogen, which is obtained from fossil fuels. This is where the importance of the finding of the National University of Singapore lies, since it has managed to produce this element in a cheaper way.

They discover “by accident” a cheaper way to obtain green hydrogen

NUS researchers devise revolutionary technique to generate hydrogen more efficiently from water

National University of Singapore (NUS)

The fact dates back to 2019, but it has been now that the team of researchers has published the results in the journal Nature. One night there was a blackout in the work lab, leaving it completely dark.

When the team, led by Professor Xue Jun Min, returned the next day, they found that the performance of the water electrolysis experiment they were doing had dropped dramatically.

The absence of light reduced the performance of the catalytic material, a compound based on nickel oxyhydroxide (NiO6). Electrolysis continued during the blackout, but with clearly lower performance.

However, according to the scientists, “such a material should not be sensitive to light. Light should have no effect on its properties.” This led them to investigate how light affected electrolysis.

A more efficient electrolysis process, thanks to light

Three ways to produce hydrogen

As a consequence, the team discovered that light can make the process of obtaining hydrogen more efficient. As Professor Jun Min explains, “the redox center of the electrocatalytic reaction switches between metal and oxygen, activated by light. This greatly improves the efficiency of water electrolysis.”

By allowing more light to pass through, hydrogen is obtained by electrolysis in a more energy efficient and therefore cheaper way. “More hydrogen can be produced in less time and with less energy,” says the professor.

After this finding, which could be very interesting for the use of hydrogen in the future, the team of researchers from the National University of Singapore began working on new methods to improve the industrial processes for obtaining this element, such as the creation of cells transparent to allow light to penetrate during electrolysis.

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