A team of scientists at Linköping University in Sweden has made a groundbreaking discovery in the production of green hydrogen, a promising renewable energy source. By developing a new triple-layer material, they have supercharged the energy yield by an impressive 800%.

Hydrogen produced from water is becoming increasingly important as the world shifts away from fossil fuels. The EU plans to ban new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035, making electric motors more common in vehicles. However, heavy trucks, ships, and aircraft require alternative energy sources, where hydrogen comes into play.

The researchers have previously shown that cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) has beneficial properties for facilitating the reaction where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen. Now, they’ve further developed a combined material consisting of three layers: a layer of 3C-SiC, a layer of cobalt oxide, and a catalyst material that helps to split water.

The new material, known as Ni(OH)2/Co3O4/3C-SiC, has demonstrated eight times better performance than pure cubic silicon carbide for splitting water into hydrogen. When sunlight hits the material, electric charges are generated, which are then used to split water. By combining the three layers, the researchers have improved the ability to separate positive and negative charges, making the splitting of water more effective.

The distinction between “grey” and “green” hydrogen is crucial in this context. Almost all hydrogen present on the market is “grey” hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, with significant environmental consequences. In contrast, “green” hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity as a source of energy.

Linköping University researchers aim to utilize only solar energy to drive the photochemical reaction to produce “green” hydrogen. Currently, materials under development have an efficiency of between 1 and 3 per cent, but for commercialization, the target is 10% efficiency. The research team estimates that it may take around five to ten years to develop materials that reach this coveted limit.

The study has been funded by several organizations, including the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), the Olle Engkvists Stiftelse, the ÅForsk Foundation, the Carl Tryggers Stiftelse, and through the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Advanced Functional Materials (AFM) at Linköping University.

This breakthrough has the potential to significantly impact the renewable energy landscape, making green hydrogen production more efficient and cost-effective. As researchers continue to push the boundaries of this technology, we can expect even more exciting developments in the future.

The researchers at Rice University have made a groundbreaking discovery that vastly improves the stability of electrochemical devices converting carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals. Their innovative approach involves simply sending the CO2 through an acid bubbler, which dramatically extends the operational life of these devices by more than 50 times.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2RR) is a promising green technology that uses electricity to transform climate-warming CO2 into valuable products like carbon monoxide, ethylene, or alcohols. These products can be further refined into fuels or used in industrial processes, potentially turning a major pollutant into a feedstock.

However, the practical implementation of this technology has been hindered by poor system stability due to salt buildup in gas flow channels. This issue occurs when potassium ions migrate from the anolyte across the anion exchange membrane to the cathode reaction zone and combine with CO2 under high pH conditions.

To combat this problem, the Rice team tried a clever twist on standard procedures. Instead of using water to humidify the CO2 gas input into the reactor, they bubbled the gas through an acid solution such as hydrochloric, formic, or acetic acid.

The vapor from the acid altered local chemistry in trace amounts, preventing salt crystallization and channel blockage. The effect was remarkable: systems operated stably for over 4,500 hours in a scaled-up electrolyzer, compared to just about 80 hours under standard water-humidified CO2 conditions.

This breakthrough has significant implications for the development of carbon capture and utilization technologies. By extending the lifespan of CO2 electrolyzers, this innovation can help make these technologies more commercially viable and sustainable.

The simplicity of this approach is noteworthy, as it requires only small tweaks to existing humidification setups, which means it can be adopted without significant redesigns or added costs. This makes it an attractive solution for industries looking to integrate carbon utilization technologies into their operations.

This work was supported by the Robert A. Welch Foundation, Rice University, the National Science Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The researchers’ findings have the potential to transform the field of CO2RR and pave the way for more durable, scalable electrochemical devices that can efficiently convert CO2 into valuable products.

The study’s authors highlight the significance of this discovery, saying it “addresses a long-standing obstacle with a low-cost, easily implementable solution.” They also emphasize its potential impact on making carbon utilization technologies more commercially viable and sustainable.

The world is on the cusp of a revolutionary change in the way we transform fossil fuels into useful modern chemicals. Researchers at Colorado State University have made a groundbreaking discovery that uses light to rewrite the chemistry of fossil fuels, reducing energy demands and associated pollution. This breakthrough, published in Science, could be a game-changer for industries reliant on chemical manufacturing.

At the forefront of this research are professors Garret Miyake and Robert Paton from the Department of Chemistry and the Center for Sustainable Photoredox Catalysis (SuPRCat). Inspired by photosynthesis, their organic photoredox catalysis system harnesses visible light to gently alter the properties of chemical compounds. By exposing them to two separate photons, the team’s system generates energy needed for desired reactions, performing super-reducing reactions that are normally difficult and energy-intensive.

The research has shown remarkable results on aromatic hydrocarbons – resistant compounds like benzene in fossil fuels. Miyake boasts that their technology is “the most efficient system currently available” for reducing these compounds, paving the way for the production of chemicals needed for plastics and medicine.

This work continues the efforts of the U.S. National Science Foundation Center for Sustainable Photoredox Catalysis at CSU, led by Miyake as its director. This multi-institution research effort aims to transform chemical synthesis processes across various uses, making synthetic and computational chemists team up to understand the fundamental chemical nature of photoredox catalysis.

Katharine Covert, program director for the NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation program, highlights the importance of photoredox catalysis in pharmaceutical development and other industries. Through the NSF Center for Sustainable Photoredox Catalysis, researchers are developing catalysis systems similar to the one described in this paper to support energy-efficient production of ammonia for fertilizers, the breakdown of PFAS forever chemicals, and the upcycling of plastics.

Miyake emphasizes the urgency of meeting these challenges and making a more sustainable future for our world. He concludes that “the world has a timeclock that is expiring,” and we must develop sustainable technologies before it’s too late.

This breakthrough has far-reaching implications, not just in chemical manufacturing but also in addressing pressing environmental concerns. As researchers continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with light-based chemistry, one thing is certain – the future of fossil fuel transformation has never looked brighter.