Platinum-Free Solar Hydrogen: A Breakthrough for Cleaner, More Affordable Fuels
- Energy Channel Global
- 51 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed an innovative method to produce hydrogen from sunlight and water without relying on platinum, one of the planet’s scarcest and most expensive metals. The breakthrough promises to lower costs, reduce environmental impact, and accelerate the role of green hydrogen in the global energy transition.
Hydrogen is considered a key element for decarbonizing industry and heavy transport. However, conventional solar-driven production methods still depend on platinum as a co-catalyst. Platinum’s high cost, limited geographic availability, and environmentally harmful extraction processes have hindered large-scale deployment of solar hydrogen.
To address this challenge, the Swedish team created conductive plastic nanoparticles engineered to act as photocatalysts. When immersed in water and exposed to sunlight, these particles efficiently trigger hydrogen production in a sustainable and cost-effective way.
“Developing efficient platinum-free photocatalysts has been a long-standing goal in this field,” says Alexandre Holmes, one of the study’s lead authors. “By redesigning the plastic at the molecular level and transforming it into nanoparticles, we increased the interaction between light, water, and the catalyst, achieving performance that can surpass traditional platinum-based systems at a fraction of the cost.”
The researchers report that just one gram of the polymer material can produce approximately 30 liters of hydrogen per hour, marking a significant step toward industrial and transport applications. Additionally, the plastic can now be manufactured without harmful chemicals, further improving sustainability and scalability.
The team’s next goal is to eliminate the need for any auxiliary chemicals, relying solely on sunlight and water to split molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. For Professor Ergang Wang, the project’s lead researcher, “removing platinum from the process is a critical step toward making hydrogen production truly sustainable and accessible.”
If scaled up, this innovation could enable clean fuels for industry, energy storage, and heavy transport, helping reduce emissions in sectors where direct electrification remains challenging.
Platinum-Free Solar Hydrogen: A Breakthrough for Cleaner, More Affordable Fuels