The research findings may have wide-reaching implications for future large-scale clean hydrogen production.
Traditionally, scientists have been using precious metal catalysts such as platinum to accelerate the reaction to break water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Curtin University research has found that adding nickel and cobalt to cheaper catalysts enhances their performance, lowering the energy required to split the molecules and increase the yield of hydrogen.
Lead researcher from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences Dr Guohua Jia said the discovery could be revolutionary.
“Our research essentially saw us take two-dimensional iron-sulfur nanocrystals, which don’t usually work as catalysts for the electricity-driven reaction that gets hydrogen from water, and add small amounts of nickel and cobalt ions,” Dr Jia said.
“When we did this it completely transformed the poor-performing iron-sulfur into a viable and efficient catalyst.”
These more abundant materials are cheaper and more efficient, which will assist cheaper future production on a mass scale.
Jia said the next step would be to trial the tests on a larger scale to gauge commercial viability.
“Only 21 per cent of energy is produced from renewables in the national energy market, which clearly indicates more efforts are required from Australia to make a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy,” she added.
“But this shift is only possible when the knowledge from the research sector gets translated into real-world solutions and applications in the energy sector.”
Click here to view the full research paper.
For more information visit the Curtin University website.
Subscribe to The Australian Pipeliner for the latest industry updates.