This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Using a range of advanced characterization techniques, researchers say they have developed a novel method with the potential to produce hydrogen from seawater using a process that requires less energy, resists corrosion and could support more economical hydrogen production. The study, published in the journal Chemical Communications, describes the use of a new catalyst to produce hydrogen.
The catalyst is composed of three ingredients: nickel hydroxide, cerium oxide and phosphate. The catalyst components are abundantly available in nature and relatively inexpensive to obtain. One of the most promising ways to produce clean hydrogen fuel is water electrolysis, which runs electricity through water to split it into hydrogen and oxygen.
Currently, this process is usually carried out using pure, treated water, which is expensive and, in many parts of the world, scarce. Seawater is abundant and readily available, so scientists have long wanted to use it directly for hydrogen production. However, seawater contains large amounts of chloride ions (dissolved salt).
These ions create two major challenges: they corrode and degrade the metal catalysts that drive the reaction, and they compete with the desired oxygen-evolution reaction. "Instead of producing oxygen cleanly, the reaction can produce toxic chlorine and related byproducts," explained Dr. Tanveer Ul Haq, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Sharjah and a co-author.
"So, the challenge isn't just 'Can we split seawater?' It's 'Can we do it selectively and durably, without the salt wrecking the catalyst or hijacking the reaction?'" According to the study, the new catalyst system requires less energy to operate, is more selective for the desired reaction and corrodes far less than versions lacking either cerium oxide or the phosphate. The authors also attribute durability to their method, maintaining that it remains effective for longer periods under real operating conditions than earlier models. "In a stress test, it ran continuously at high output for about 80 hours in simulated seawater without breaking down or losing performance—a good sign of practical durability, not just a one-off lab result," noted Ul Haq.
In addition, he noted that the material formed tiny, densely packed, pyramid-shaped nanostructures, giving the catalyst a significantly larger active surface area than plain nickel hydroxide, meaning more sites where the reaction can occur. The authors demonstrate a catalyst that operates efficiently and durably directly in seawater, which accounts for roughly 97% of the planet's water. "This kind of research chips away at one of the practical bottlenecks standing between 'green hydrogen is theoretically great' and 'green hydrogen is something we can actually build at scale, everywhere, cheaply,'" Ul Haq emphasized.
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