Clever New Device Can Produce Hydrogen Fuel Using Water And Sunlight

[Judi Lynn]

DAVID NIELD 9 MAY 2020

Scientists are very keen to find effective ways of getting hydrogen from water, thus unlocking hydrogen's potential as a clean fuel. A newly developed device manages the feat, using only sunlight as a power source.

Using catalytic electrodes and perovskite solar cells fused together in a single unit, the clever contraption can hit sunlight-to-hydrogen efficiency rates as high as 6.7 percent. It just drops into water, and away it goes (when the Sun is out).

It might be a bit too early to start converting all our cars to take zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells, but the researchers behind the new invention say that it should be relatively easy to scale up the technology for wider use.

"The concept is broadly similar to an artificial leaf," says materials scientist Jun Lou, from Rice University in Texas. "What we have is an integrated module that turns sunlight into electricity that drives an electrochemical reaction. It utilises water and sunlight to get chemical fuels."

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-device-splits-water-into-hydrogen-fuel-to-create-perpetual-energy-source

[SCantiGOP]

1. Serious skepticism here

This has been a Holy Grail for science for years. Cheap hydrogen will be an almost limitless source of energy, but the problem is making it at less cost than the benefit it produces.
This will be accomplished eventually, but if this were the breakthrough I think this would be the second biggest story of the year.
This needs to wait until it is peer reviewed, which most of this site's articles aren't when they are printed.

[Chainfire]

2. It sounds like simple electrolysis

nothing new. I can take the solar panels from my gate opener, run a pair of leads into a container of salt water and separate hydrogen too.