Hydrogen is being eyed as a possible source of energy in the future. Scientists are looking for sources of hydrogen, and one of the largest sources is water. With much of our world composed of water, hydrogen could be a viable source of energy.
Scientists are looking for a way to separate hydrogen from water. Hydrogen could be used for fuel cells as well as power electric engines. Extracting hydrogen from water though is often expensive. However researchers from the University of Houston and the California Institute of Technology might have a more efficient way of getting hydrogen from water.
The key to this process is the use of molybdenum sulfoselenide particles on porous nickel diselenide foam, as Science Daily reports. The foam is said to improve catalytic performance since it has more edged sites as opposed to having a flat surface.
The researchers note that fossil fuels have been used much and there is a need for a fuel source that can be more friendly to the environment. They note that though hydrogen is a good source for renewable energy, it can be inefficient since it lacks catalysts that are cheap.
Platinum as a catalyst is efficient but would not be cheap. It is rare plus difficult to get. This makes it expensive to be practical for commercial use. The researchers see molybdenum sulfoselenide to be promising, though what it needs is for more to have it boosted to be viable in bulk.
What the researchers have found out is that such catalysts like molybdenum sulfoselenide have catalysis occur at its edges. The idea then is to have more exposed edges so as to make it more desirable. They have also tested it and have found that it needs 69 millivolts from an external power source. This would then produce 10 milliamps per square centimeter.
With that power, it can then split hydrogen from water. Platinum requires 32 millivolts to achieve that, but further testing on the molybdenum sulfoselenide catalyst has reduced its requirement to 40 millivolts.
Further testing is still being done to reduce the voltage needed to split hydrogen from water, as Phys Org notes in its report. As the required voltage for it goes lower, it would then be less expensive and could make hydrogen a good alternative for renewable energy later on.
