New catalyst dives into water to produce hydrogen
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - 08:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —Few catalysts are energy efficient, highly active, stable, and operate in water, but a nickel-based catalyst designed at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory quickly produces hydrogen molecules in solutions with 75 percent water. This catalyst contains tailored relays that allow the catalyst to quickly shuttle protons from the solution to the heart of the catalyst, where they are added to electrons. The catalyst is known to be energy efficient, stable and highly active. With the modified design, it now operates in water, producing up to 170,000 hydrogen molecules per second. The study on this catalyst was highlighted as a hot article in Chemical Communications.