Efficient Splitting of Water for Hydrogen Production

Japan: Hydrogen Economy Efficient Splitting of Water for Hydrogen Production

25.01.2018Editor: MA Alexander Stark

Researchers at Osaka University have developed a new catalytic system for efficiently splitting water and making hydrogen with energy from normal sunlight. Their study was recently reported in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Related Vendor

Osaka University

Photocatalytic overall pure-water splitting using the 2D heterostructures of BP/BiVO4 without any sacrificial agents under visible light irradiation.
(Source: University of Osaka)

Osaka/Japan — Hydrogen as a fuel source, rather than hydrocarbons like oil and coal, offers many benefits. Burning hydrogen produces harmless water with the potential to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions and their environmental burden. In pursuit of technologies that could lead to a breakthrough in achieving a hydrogen economy, a key issue is making hydrogen cheaply.

Using catalysts to split water is the ideal way to generate hydrogen, but doing so usually requires an energy input from other chemicals, electricity, or a portion of sunlight which has high enough energy.

Gallery

Schematic diagram of Z-scheme photocatalytic overall water splitting using BP/BiVO4 under visible light irradiation.

Until now, it has not been possible to use visible light for photocatalysis. The new approach developed by the Japanese scientists combines nanostructured black phosphorus for water reduction to hydrogen and bismuth vanadate for water oxidation to oxygen. According to Mingshan Zhu, this allowed them to use a of a wide range of the solar spectrum to produce hydrogen and oxygen with unprecedented efficiency.

Launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2017, the Hydrogen Council is a first-of-its-kind global CEO initiative to foster the role of hydrogen technologies in the global energy transition. (Air Liquide)

Black phosphorus has a flat, two-dimensional structure similar to that of graphene and strongly absorbs light across the whole of the visible spectrum. The researchers combined the black phosphorus with bismuth vanadate, which is a well-known water oxidation catalyst.

In the same way that plants shuttle electrons between different structures in natural photosynthesis to split water and make oxygen, the two components of this new catalyst could rapidly transfer electrons excited by sunlight. The amounts of the two components was also optimized in the catalyst, leading to production of hydrogen and oxygen gases in an ideal 2:1 ratio.

Coauthor Tetsuro Majima commented that the realization of hydrogen production powered by sunlight was the foundation of a hydrogen-oriented society, adding that their contribution would overcome a significant hurdle.

According to researchers at the Wageningen University, the use of organic waste from MSW as a raw material for fuels or chemicals like butanol and hydrogen offers significant benefits over current processes. (CC0 Pixabay)

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.

Stand vom 23.03.2021

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planckstr. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://support.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.

(ID:45099406)