DAVID NIELD 17 MAY 2017

Scientists Have Developed The Most Efficient
Water-Splitting Catalyst Yet
Scientists just found a new way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen that's cheap and effective - and
it could mean we're able to produce an abundance of clean hydrogen fuel in the future.
Hydrogen is a fantastic source for clean energy, but the challenge is making enough of it to be efficient
and practical price. A newly developed catalyst now reportedly addresses both issues, boasting more
efficiency for a lower cost than existing solutions - and it can run for 20 hours straight.
According to the University of Houston scientists who developed the catalyst, it ticks all the boxes in
terms of durability and energy storage, as well as cost and efficiency.
"Hydrogen is the cleanest primary energy source we have on Earth," says one of the team, Paul C. W.
Chu. "Water could be the most abundant source of hydrogen if one could separate the hydrogen from its
strong bond with oxygen in the water by using a catalyst."
To split water into hydrogen and oxygen, two reactions are needed - one for each element. The main
issue has been getting an efficient catalyst for the oxygen part of the equation, which is what these
researchers say they've now cracked.
The catalyst is made up of a ferrous metaphosphate and a conductive nickel foam platform, a
combination of materials the team says is more efficient and less expensive than existing solutions.
It also shows impressive durability in tests, operating for more than 20 hours and 10,000 cycles without a
hitch.
Using the new method means hydrogen can be produced without creating waste carbon. That's
something that existing production methods, like steam methane reforming and coal gasification, can't
avoid.
And until now, oxygen reactions have often relied on electrocatalysts that use iridium, platinum, or
ruthenium - 'noble' metals that are difficult and expensive to source. Experts say oxygen reactions have
become a bottleneck to the whole process.
Nickel, in contrast, is more abundant and so easier and cheaper to get. The metal forms the basis of
another water-splitting method discovered last year, so scientists now have several avenues to explore
for improving hydrogen production.
The actual splitting itself is usually powered by an electric current or solar power, but because water
only captures a small portion of the light spectrum, it's more productive to convert sunshine into energy
first, then use the electricity to release hydrogen.
If scientists can crack the formula, hydrogen could eventually power everything from homes to cars. And
it's a far better option for the environment than CO2-gushing fossil fuels - hydrogen fuel produces water
as a by-product of combustion, which is both sustainable and non-polluting.
And the good news is, should the water electrolysis route not work out, researchers are also exploring
ways to get hydrogen from biomass.
The less heat and the less energy we use preparing the hydrogen in the first place, the better it is for
our planet - and once we have it ready, it's far cleaner and greener than fossil fuels.
"We believe our finding is a giant step toward practical and economic production of hydrogen by water
splitting, which will significantly contribute to the effort to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels," say
the Houston researchers.
Their findings have been published in PNAS.