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by
National University
of Singapore
A research team from the National
University of Singapore comprising Associate Professor Xue Jun Min
(centre), Dr Vincent Lee Wee Siang (left) and Mr Zhong Haoyin (left),
has found that light can trigger a new electro-catalytic mechanism of
water electrolysis. This groundbreaking discovery could improve
affordability of hydrogen as source of clean energy. Credit: National
University of Singapore
The team, led by Associate Professor Xue
Jun Min, Dr. Wang Xiaopeng and Dr. Vincent Lee Wee Siang from the
Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the NUS College
of Design and Engineering (NUS CDE), found that light can trigger a
new mechanism in a catalytic material used extensively in
water electrolysis, where water is broken down into
hydrogen and oxygen. The result is a more energy-efficient method
of obtaining hydrogen.
This breakthrough was achieved in
collaboration with Dr. Xi Shibo from the Institute of Sustainability
for Chemicals, Energy and Environment under the Agency for Science,
Technology and Research (A*STAR); Dr. Yu Zhigen from the Institute of
High Performance Computing under A*STAR; and Dr. Wang Hao from the
Department of Mechanical Engineering under the NUS CDE.
"We discovered that the redox center for
electro-catalytic reaction is switched between metal and oxygen,
triggered by light," said Assoc. Prof. Xue. "This largely improves the
water electrolysis efficiency."
The new finding can potentially open up
new and more effective industrial methods of producing hydrogen and
putting this environmentally friendly source of fuel within the reach
of more people and industries.
Assoc. Prof. Xue and his team detailed
their discovery in a research paper published in the journal Nature
on October 26, 2022.
The accidental breakthrough
Under normal circumstances, Assoc. Prof.
Xue and his team may not have been able to come across such a
groundbreaking discovery. But an accidental power trip of the ceiling
lights in his laboratory almost three years ago allowed them to
observe something that the global scientific community has not yet
managed to do.
Back then, the ceiling lights in Assoc.
Prof. Xue's research lab were usually turned on for 24 hours. One
night in 2019, the lights went off due to a power trip. When the
researchers returned the next day, they found that the performance of
a nickel oxyhydroxide-based material in the water electrolysis
experiment, which had continued in the dark, had fallen drastically.
"This drop in performance, nobody has
ever noticed it before, because no one has ever done the experiment in
the dark," said Assoc. Prof. Xue. "Also, the literature says that such
a material shouldn't be sensitive to light; light should not have any
effect on its properties."
The electro-catalytic mechanism in water
electrolysis is a very well-researched topic, while the nickel-based
material is a very common catalytic material. Hence, in order to
establish that they were on the verge of discovering something
groundbreaking, Assoc. Prof. Xue and his team embarked on numerous
repeated experiments. They dug deeper into the mechanics behind such a
phenomenon. They even repeated the experiment outside of Singapore to
ensure that their findings were consistent.
Three years on, Assoc. Prof. Xue and his
team were finally able to share their findings publicly in a paper.
Next steps
With their findings, the team is now
working on designing a new way to improve
industrial processes to generate hydrogen. Assoc. Prof. Xue is
suggesting making the cells containing water to be transparent, so as
to introduce light into the water splitting process.
"This should require less energy in the
electrolysis process, and it should be much easier using
natural light," said Assoc. Prof. Xue. "More hydrogen can be
produced in a shorter amount of time, with less energy consumed."
Food companies use
hydrogen gas to turn unsaturated oils and fats into saturated
ones, which give us margarine and butter. Hydrogen is also used to
weld metals together, as it can generate a high temperature of 4,000
deg C. The petroleum industry uses the gas to remove sulfur content
from oil.
Moreover, hydrogen can potentially be
used as a fuel. Long-touted as a sustainable fuel, hydrogen fuel
produces no emissions as it burns upon reacting with oxygen—no
ignition is needed, making it a cleaner and greener fuel source. It is
also easier to store, making it more reliable than solar-powered
batteries.
Assoc. Prof. Xue is glad that the
findings from his team of researchers could contribute to scientific
discovery. He thinks that the way to develop science is not to keep
finding new ways to do what has already been done, but to constantly
push the boundaries.
"It's only through accumulation of new
knowledge that we can improve society progressively," said Assoc.
Prof. Xue.
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