Researchers at University of Birmingham have developed a new method for producing hydrogen that works at much lower temperatures than current technologies.
The breakthrough could make clean hydrogen cheaper to produce and allow factories to generate hydrogen using waste heat that would otherwise be lost.
The study, published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, focuses on a special material called a perovskite catalyst that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen more efficiently than existing thermochemical methods.
Hydrogen is considered one of the most promising clean fuels for the future because it produces only water and heat when used.
It can also power fuel cells that generate electricity without producing carbon dioxide.
However, most hydrogen today is still made using fossil fuels such as natural gas, which creates large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists have been searching for cleaner ways to produce hydrogen for years. One promising method is thermochemical water splitting, where heat and catalysts are used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The problem is that current systems require extremely high temperatures, often between 700°C and 1000°C for water splitting and as high as 1300°C to 1500°C to regenerate the catalyst for reuse. These high temperatures make the process expensive and energy intensive.
The Birmingham research team, led by Professor Yulong Ding, found a way to dramatically lower those temperatures by using a specially designed perovskite catalyst made from barium, niobium, calcium, and iron.
These materials are relatively common, non-toxic, and easier to manufacture compared to many advanced catalysts.
The researchers discovered that the new catalyst could produce substantial amounts of hydrogen at temperatures between 150°C and 500°C. The catalyst could also be regenerated at temperatures between 700°C and 1000°C, around 500°C lower than many current technologies require.
Lower temperatures could create major practical advantages. Many heavy industries such as steel, cement, glass, and chemical manufacturing produce large amounts of waste heat during normal operations.
According to the researchers, this waste heat could potentially be reused to drive hydrogen production locally.
Producing hydrogen close to where it will be used could reduce the need for expensive transport and storage infrastructure, which remains one of the biggest barriers to large-scale hydrogen adoption.
The team also carried out an early economic analysis of the technology. Their results suggest the new process may produce hydrogen at a lower cost than both green hydrogen, which is made using electrolysis powered by renewable electricity, and blue hydrogen, which is made from natural gas with carbon capture systems.
The cost advantage could be especially important in countries with abundant renewable energy and lower electricity prices, including Australia.
The research was conducted in collaboration with University of Science and Technology Beijing. The University of Birmingham has already filed a patent application for the technology and is seeking commercial partners to help develop it further.
The researchers say the new catalyst remained stable over at least 10 production cycles, showing little structural damage during testing. They believe the technology could become an important step toward cleaner and more affordable hydrogen production in the future.
