A significant advancement has been achieved by experts in nanoscale chemistry as they have established a new way to achieve the sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power.
Flinders University Professor of Physics Gunther Andersson. Image Credit: Flinders University.
In a new international collaborative study—led by Flinders University with partners in South Australia, the US, and Germany—researchers have identified a groundbreaking solar cell process with potential applications in future technologies for photocatalytic water splitting in green hydrogen production.
The study combined this innovative solar material with a catalyst developed by US-based research led by Professor Paul Maggard. Together, the team demonstrated that a new class of kinetically stable "core and shell Sn(II)-perovskite" oxide solar material could act as a promising catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction—a critical step in the process of producing pollution-free hydrogen energy.
The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, pave the way for further breakthroughs in carbon-free green hydrogen technologies. These technologies leverage non-greenhouse-gas-emitting forms of power to deliver high-performance, cost-effective electrolysis.
“This latest study is an important step forward in understanding how these tin compounds can be stabilized and effective in water,” notes lead author Professor Gunther Andersson, from the Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the College of Science and Engineering.
Our reported material points to a novel chemical strategy for absorbing the broad energy range of sunlight and using it to drive fuel-producing reactions at its surfaces.
Paul Maggard, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baylor University
While tin and oxygen compounds are already employed in applications such as catalysis, diagnostic imaging, and therapeutic drugs, the reactivity of Sn(II) compounds with water and dioxygen has historically limited their use in technological applications. This study addresses those challenges, offering a promising path forward.
Around the globe, solar photovoltaic research is focused on developing cost-effective, high-performance perovskite generation systems as alternatives to conventional silicon and other existing panels. The ability to produce low-emission hydrogen through electrolysis—splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity—or thermochemical water splitting powered by concentrated solar energy or waste heat from nuclear reactors adds to the appeal of these advancements.
Hydrogen can also be produced from diverse resources, including fossil fuels like natural gas and biomass. However, the environmental impact and energy efficiency of hydrogen production depend heavily on the methods and energy sources used. Solar-driven processes that use sunlight as the driving force for hydrogen production are emerging as a viable alternative for industrial-scale hydrogen generation.
This new study builds on earlier research led by Professor Maggard, now based at Baylor University, and previously conducted at North Carolina State University. The project received contributions from experts at Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, and Universität Münster in Germany. Among them is Professor Greg Metha, who has been exploring the photocatalytic activity of metal clusters on oxide surfaces in reactor technologies.
Journal Reference:
Krishnan, G., et al. (2024) Chemical and Valence Electron Structure of the Core and Shell of Sn(II)-Perovskite Oxide Nanoshells. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c04169.