A new way to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight has been discovered

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A new way to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight has been discovered

By admin, Aralık 9, 2024

A new way to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight has been discovered





A new way to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight has been discovered



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Most hydrogen production still relies on natural gas. However, scientists from Japan’s Shinshu University only sunlight and water can be renewed using hydrogen fuel developed an innovative reactor that produces Although this is just a prototype, it is stated that the system will eventually produce zero-emission fuel in a cheap and sustainable way.

Could revolutionize hydrogen production

Approximately 100 square meters This space-consuming reactor uses special photocatalytic panels to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The process consists of two stages: In the first step, oxygen is separated, and in the second step, hydrogen atoms are separated. The separated hydrogen can be stored as a clean fuel and used in vehicles, generators and other machines.

This system takes a different approach than existing “one-step” catalyst methods. In traditional methods, water is directly separated into hydrogen and oxygen, but this process is not sustainable due to both energy inefficiency and the use of natural gas.

The first results are promising, but…




A new way to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight has been discovered



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The tests of the reactor were first carried out under UV light and successful results were obtained. Later, tests performed in sunlight, a 50 percent increase in energy conversion rate showed. But the system still has important problems to solve. there is a problem: The efficiency of converting sunlight into hydrogen fuel is only 1 percent. For commercial use, this rate must increase to at least 5 percent.

Researchers state that the scale of the reactor should be enlarged and more efficient photocatalysts should be developed. Kazunari Domen, the lead author of the study, stated that reaching a practical level of efficiency of this technology will accelerate the infrastructure, laws and regulations regarding hydrogen fuel production. “The conversion efficiency of photocatalysts from solar energy to chemical energy is the most important point. Once this is improved, many researchers will seriously work on the development of mass production technology and gas separation processes, as well as large-scale plant construction.” says Domen.

Despite remaining technical hurdles, the concept shows great promise. If scientists can refine catalysts and scale up reactors, fuel could be produced cleanly and sustainably from two of the most abundant resources on Earth.

























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