Sun and water to produce a fuel as powerful as it is clean: That’s what chemistry researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered in a recent study, published in Nature Chemistry.
With the title “Catalyst Self-Assembly Accelerates Bimetallic Light-driven Electrocatalytic H2 Evolution in Water”, these scientists have managed Identify the role of solar energy in producing hydrogen gas just by using water.
The process consists of applying andelectricity to split water molecules in the elements that constitute it: hydrogen and oxygen.
According to what the scientists themselves shared, this is a milestone since it results a very significant contribution to the field of catalysis and paves the way for the development of technology for efficient and sustainable energy.
“We want to capture the energy from sunlight and instead of converting it into electricity like a solar panel on the roof, we want to generate a fuel that we can store and use on demand to drive a car, charge a battery or have regular light”, explains the chemist Alexander Millerwho has been responsible for leading this study.
He was joined in this project by researchers Marc Ter Horst, Isaac Cloward, Tamara, Jurado, Tianfei Liu, Anabell Bonn, Matthew Chambers and Catherine Pitman.
A fuel with many advantages
Hydrogen gas is especially interesting as a fuel, since it is one of the most common elements on planet Earth and, through treatment, it can become a very environmentally friendly source of energy, since it only releases water vapor.
So much so that it is becoming more and more common in such important industries as the automotive or transport industrywith a particular use in trucks, trains, ships… and even in Aerospace engineering.
Thus, This gas is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels and to achieve the objectives of the European Union as set out in the European Green Deal, including the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
However, hydrogen only represents a small part of the EU’s energy resourceswhich is why research like this is essential to outline the future we want for the coming years.