Researchers produce hydrogen from seawater

An international team of researchers has managed to split seawater to produce green hydrogen without the need for pre-treatment, the University of Adelaide said on Wednesday.

“We have split natural seawater into oxygen and hydrogen with nearly 100% efficiency, to produce green hydrogen by electrolysis, using a non-precious and cheap catalyst in a commercial electrolyser,” explained University of Adelaide professor Shizhang Qiao, one of the leaders of the research, which was published in the journal Nature Energy.

Do you know we have a daily hydrogen newsletter? Subscribe here for free!

The scientists’ work involved introducing a Lewis acid layer on transition metal oxide catalysts. It provides a route to directly use seawater without pre-treatment such as desalination and deionisation as a feedstock in electrolysis.

Increased demand for hydrogen could put pressure on freshwater resources, while seawater is abundant.

Seawater electrolysis is still in early development because of electrode side reactions and corrosion related to the complexities of using seawater, the university said.

The researchers will aim to scale up the system by using a larger electrolyser so that it can be applied to commercial processes.