According to a study, devices made of commonly available oxide and carbon-based materials can manufacture pure hydrogen from water for weeks. The discovery could aid in overcoming one of the major challenges in solar fuel production: present earth-abundant light-absorbing materials are limited in terms of performance or stability. The move to full decarbonisation and the UK's target of net-zero emissions by 2050 will rely heavily on hydrogen fuel. Because the majority of hydrogen is currently produced using fossil fuels, scientists are now attempting to develop more environmentally friendly methods of producing hydrogen. [1]

Figure 1. Solar Pixels Abundant on Earth Found to Produce Hydrogen for Weeks

Figure 1 shows hydrogen fuel will play a critical role in the transition to full decarbonisation and reaching the UK’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. With most hydrogen currently supplied from fossil fuels, researchers are now working to find ways to generate hydrogen more sustainably. One way to achieve this is to make devices that can harvest sunlight and split water to produce green hydrogen.

While many light-absorbing materials have been tested for green hydrogen production, most degrade quickly when submerged in water. For example, perovskites are the fastest-growing materials in terms of light-harvesting efficiency, but are unstable in water and contain lead. [2]

Researchers further found that artificial leaf devices comprising of multiple light harvesting areas (called 'pixels') demonstrated a higher performance over conventional devices with a single larger pixel of same total size. This finding could make the scale up of novel light harvesters much easier and faster for sustainable fuel production. [4]

Looking to the future

The findings demonstrate the potential for these new devices to challenge the performance of existing light absorbers. The new ways of making BiOI artificial leaf devices more stable can now be translated to other novel systems, helping to bring them towards commercialisation.

“This is an exciting development! At the moment, few solar fuel systems show stabilities which are compatible to real-world applications. [3]

References:

1. https://gadgets360.com/science/news/solar-pixels-abundant-earth-can-produce-hydrogen-weeks-study-3048887
2. https://www.enn.com/articles/70505-earth-abundant-solar-pixels-found-to-produce-hydrogen-for-weeks
3. https://vervetimes.com/earth-abundant-solar-pixels-found-to-produce-hydrogen-for-weeks-sciencedaily/
4. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220607120920.htm

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Solar Pixels Abundant on Earth Found to Produce Hydrogen for Weeks, Anatechmaz, pp.81