New nanomaterial to derive clean fuel from the sea

Date:
July 29, 2021
Source:
University of Central Florida
Summary:
Hydrogen fuel derived from the sea could be an abundant and
sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, but the potential power
source has been limited by technical challenges, including how to
practically harvest it.

Researchers have designed a nanoscale material that can efficiently
split seawater into oxygen and a clean energy fuel -- hydrogen.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Hydrogen fuel derived from the sea could be an abundant and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, but the potential power source has been
limited by technical challenges, including how to practically harvest it.


========================================================================== Researchers at the University of Central Florida have designed for the
first time a nanoscale material that can efficiently split seawater into
oxygen and a clean energy fuel -- hydrogen. The process of splitting
water into hydrogen and oxygen is known as electrolysis and effectively
doing it has been a challenge until now.

The stable, and long-lasting nanoscale material to catalyze the reaction,
which the UCF team developed, is explained this month in the journal
Advanced Materials.

"This development will open a new window for efficiently producing clean hydrogen fuel from seawater," says Yang Yang, an associate professor in
UCF's NanoScience Technology Center and study co-author.

Hydrogen is a form of renewable energy that -- if made cheaper and
easier to produce -- can have a major role in combating climate change, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Hydrogen could be converted into electricity to use in fuel cell
technology that generates water as product and makes an overall
sustainable energy cycle, Yang says.

How It Works The researchers developed a thin-film material with
nanostructures on the surface made of nickel selenide with added, or
"doped," iron and phosphor. This combination offers the high performance
and stability that are needed for industrial-scale electrolysis but
that has been difficult to achieve because of issues, such as competing reactions, within the system that threaten efficiency.

The new material balances the competing reactions in a way that is
low-cost and high-performance, Yang says.

Using their design, the researchers achieved high efficiency and long-term stability for more than 200 hours.

"The seawater electrolysis performance achieved by the dual-doped film
far surpasses those of the most recently reported, state-of-the-art electrolysis catalysts and meets the demanding requirements needed for practical application in the industries," Yang says.

The researcher says the team will work to continue to improve the
electrical efficiency of the materials they've developed. They are also
looking for opportunities and funding to accelerate and help commercialize
the work.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Central_Florida. Original written by Robert Wells. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jinfa Chang, Guanzhi Wang, Zhenzhong Yang, Boyang Li, Qi Wang,
Ruslan
Kuliiev, Nina Orlovskaya, Meng Gu, Yingge Du, Guofeng Wang,
Yang Yang.

Dual‐Doping and Synergism toward High‐Performance
Seawater Electrolysis. Advanced Materials, 2021; 2101425 DOI:
10.1002/ adma.202101425 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729122120.htm

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