One of the main obstacles in the production of hydrogen through water splitting is that hydrogen peroxide is also formed, which affects the efficiency stability of the reaction and the stability of the production. Dutch and Israelian researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and the Weizmann Institute have succeeded in controlling the spin of electrons in the reaction and thereby almost fully suppress the production of hydrogen peroxide. They published these findings this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The efficient production of hydrogen paves the way towards water splitting by solar energy.
Hydrogen has been referred to as the fuel of the future but its generation is still not efficient enough. One of the production methods is a photo-electrochemical cell whereby water is split into hydrogen and oxygen under the influence of light. Not only does the reaction require a lot of energy but also hydrogen peroxide is formed as a by-product, leading to the poisoning of one of the electrodes and thus reduced efficiency.
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