Improved water splitting method: A green energy innovation
Scientists develop a catalyst that could enable commercial on-site
production of hydrogen from water splitting, a game changer in green energy


Date:
August 30, 2021
Source:
Pusan National University
Summary:
Hydrogen is a promising clean energy source with great potential to
replace greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels. While total water
(H2O) splitting is the easiest way to obtain hydrogen (H2),
this reaction is slow and not yet commercially feasible. Now,
scientists have developed a novel electrocatalyst that significantly
improves hydrogen production from water splitting in an energy
and cost-efficient way.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Having used fossil fuels for over a century for nearly everything,
humanity has triggered a climate crisis. Now, the directive is to achieve
net zero emissions or carbon neutrality by 2050.


==========================================================================
A hydrogen economy is one way in which a carbon neutral world can
thrive. At present, the simplest way to produce hydrogen fuel is electrochemical water splitting: running electricity through water in the presence of catalysts (reaction-enhancing substances) to yield hydrogen
and oxygen. This reaction, however, is very slow, requires specialized conditions and noble-metal catalysts, and is overall expensive. Thus,
achieving a high hydrogen yield in an energy-efficient manner at low
cost is challenging. To date, hydrogen production from water splitting
has not been successfully commercialized.

Now, a team of researchers from Pusan National University, Korea, led by Professor Kandasamy Prabakar, have developed a method to design a novel electrocatalyst that can solve some of these problems. Their work was made available online on April 6, 2021, and will be published in print in the September 2021 issue of Volume 292 of Applied Catalysis B: Environmental.

Describing the study, Prof. Prabakar says, "Today, 90% of hydrogen is
produced from steam reforming processes that emit greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere.

In our laboratory, we have developed a non-noble metal based stable electrocatalyst on a polymer support which can effectively produce
hydrogen and oxygen from water at a low-cost from transition metal
phosphates." Prof. Prabakar's team fabricated this electrolyzer
by depositing cobalt and manganese ions, in varying proportions,
on a Polyaniline (PANI) nanowire array using a simple hydrothermal
process. By tuning the Co/Mn ratio, they have achieved an overall high
surface area for the reactions to occur, and combined with the high
electron conducting capacity of the PANI nanowire, faster charge and
mass transfer was facilitated on this catalyst surface. The bimetallic phosphate also confers bifunctional electrocatalytic activity for the simultaneous production of oxygen and hydrogen.

In experiments to test the performance of this catalyst, they found
that its morphology substantially decreases the reaction overpotential,
thereby improving the voltage efficiency of the system. As a testament
to durability, even after 40 hours of continuous hydrogen production at
100 mA/cm2, its performance remains consistent. And water splitting was possible at a low input voltage of merely 1.54V.

In addition to these advantages, is the low cost of transition
metals. Indeed, the system can be scaled and adapted for application to
a myriad of settings.

Speaking of possible future applications, Prof. Prabakar explains,
"Water- splitting devices that use this technology can be installed
onsite where hydrogen fuel is required, and can function using a low
energy input or a completely renewable source of energy. For instance,
we can produce hydrogen at home for cooking and heating using a solar
panel. This way, we can achieve carbon neutrality well before 2050." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Pusan_National_University. Original
written by Na-hyun Lee. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Deviprasath Chinnadurai, Rajmohan Rajendiran, Oi Lun Li, Kandasamy
Prabakar. Mn-Co bimetallic phosphate on electrodeposited PANI
nanowires with composition modulated structural morphology for
efficient electrocatalytic water splitting. Applied Catalysis B:
Environmental, 2021; 292: 120202 DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120202 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210830163943.htm

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