Taiwanese researchers have discovered that copper oxide can be used in the production of hydrogen fuel in a finding that could revolutionize the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hydrogen technology.
The study, published in Nature Communications on Feb. 1, was conducted by Lin Yan-gu (林彥谷) of the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center in collaboration with researchers from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and the Max Planck Institutes in Germany.
Hydrogen energy is one of the technologies being explored as a replacement for fossil fuels as part of the global effort to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 while meeting the world’s energy needs, the center said in a statement yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Currently, hydrogen fuel is produced either by extraction from fossil fuels, which is known as “gray hydrogen,” as it still releases carbon into the environment, or by splitting water via electrolysis, which is called “green hydrogen,” as the process is carbon-free.
However, water-splitting technology has not become mainstream, as it requires the use of high-voltage electricity and expensive catalysts, such as platinum and iridium, the center said.
The researchers proved that copper oxide can be utilized as a cheap and effective alternative to current catalysts by injecting hydrogen atoms into a copper oxide catalyst, it said.
The cuprous oxide catalyst enables continuous water splitting for more than 100 hours using low-voltage electricity, which significantly reduces energy consumption, the center said.
The material’s lifetime is 10 times longer than catalysts in use and 10,000 times cheaper than commercial iridium, it said.
The team determined that the greater efficiency of copper oxide stems from a compound within the substance called trivalent copper, which is highly unstable and virtually non-existent in nature, it said.
The researchers used the facilities at the Taiwan Photon Source, the Taiwan Light Source and Taiwanese Beamlines at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility in Japan for the study, the center said.
The project is part of the center’s efforts to develop green technologies to facilitate Taiwan’s bid to become a net zero economy by 2050, it said.
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