Researchers at Trinity’s CRANN Institute have discovered a new material that will increase adoption of hydrogen as a fuel in energy-efficient transportation, bringing the world a step close to using hydrogen as a plausible renewable energy source.
The ever-pressing matter of finding sustainable and inexpensive alternatives to fossil fuels has lead the team of Trinity scientists to develop the new material, which uses 90 per cent manganese oxide to split the water molecule.
Currently the expensive and scarce ruthenium oxide is used as a catalyst to split water in hydrogen fuel cells, but this new material is much less expensive – bringing the world one step closer to the efficient production of pure hydrogen, which is both a pollution-free energy source and the ultimate energy carrier.
Scientists at the CRANN institute have been able to develop a new catalyst that uses as little as 10 per cent ruthenium oxide alongside manganese oxide, which is both abundant and inexpensive.
Speaking about the breakthrough in a press release, Prof Mike Lyons, the Principal Investigator at CRANN, spoke about how they were “very excited about this very significant breakthrough”, and how “our disruptive materials breakthrough is momentous as it means much more energetically efficient and more economical hydrogen energy”.
Lorraine Byrne, Executive Director of the CRANN Institute and the AMBER National Centre, said: “Our team of researchers at CRANN always strive to bring excellent science with potential environmental and societal impact.”
Lyons furthered noted how the “discovery could only have been accomplished using the world class characterization facilities and opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration available within the School of Chemistry and CRANN”.
Lyons, who leads Trinity’s Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Electrocatalysis Group was working alongside PhD student, Michelle Browne. The research was published in the prestigious international journal ACS Catalysis.
