A team of scientists from Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London has developed a new method for producing hydrogen using sunlight, offering a low-cost and stable solution for clean energy.
Their breakthrough, published in Nature Energy, could transform how we generate and store renewable energy in the future.
A new way to use sunlight for hydrogen
Hydrogen is a clean fuel that can help reduce pollution, but producing it using solar power has always been challenging.
The biggest problem is that organic materials, like polymers and small molecules, degrade quickly in water and lose energy at key points in the process.
This makes solar-powered hydrogen production inefficient and unstable.
To solve this, the researchers designed a multi-layer device that protects these delicate materials while increasing efficiency. Their new device combines:
✔️ An organic photoactive layer – captures sunlight and generates energy
✔️ A special graphite sheet – protects the materials from water damage
✔️ A nickel-iron catalyst – speeds up the chemical reaction to split water into hydrogen and oxygen
This new design is a major breakthrough in solar hydrogen technology. In tests, the device reached a photocurrent density of over 25 mA cm⁻², which is a big improvement over past systems. Unlike previous methods that stopped working after a few hours, this new system remained stable for several days.
Dr. Flurin Eisner, a Green Energy Lecturer at Queen Mary University, explained:
“Organic materials can absorb different types of light and have special electrical properties. This makes them a flexible and powerful tool for producing hydrogen, just like plants use sunlight to make energy in photosynthesis.”
Producing hydrogen without extra electricity
The team successfully built a full water-splitting device, meaning it can produce hydrogen from water and sunlight alone, without needing extra electricity. It achieved a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 5%, a big step forward for off-grid hydrogen production.
Dr. Matyas Daboczi, the study’s first author, highlighted another key benefit:
“We now better understand what causes organic materials to break down, which will help scientists create even better and longer-lasting devices.”
The research team plans to improve the stability of the materials and scale up the technology for industrial use.
If successful, this breakthrough could make solar-powered hydrogen a practical and affordable energy source for a cleaner future.
Dr. Salvador Eslava, a lead researcher from Imperial College London, summed it up:
“This technology brings us closer to a future where hydrogen can be easily produced from sunlight, offering a cleaner and more sustainable energy solution for the world.”
