Green hydrogen, produced from water using clean energy, is one of the great hopes for decarbonising industry. The problem is the price: it costs around $5 per kilo, compared with $1.50 for hydrogen made from natural gas.
A team at Oregon State University in the United States, led by the chemist Kyriakos Stylianou, has developed a new material called BVR-19. When exposed to light, the material splits water and releases hydrogen without needing catalysts made of expensive metals. It also forms by itself in water at room temperature, which makes it cheaper to manufacture.
The work was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The researchers say the design rules they have discovered could guide new materials to make clean hydrogen more affordable.
