Chinese researchers set new benchmark in solar hydrogen production efficiency

A team of Chinese researchers has achieved a record solar hydrogen production efficiency of 10.36 percent, sustained for over a month, paving the way for large-scale green hydrogen production, Science and Technology Daily reported on Saturday.

According to a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China and Wuhan University designed a novel photoelectrode structure using silicon-based gallium nitride nanowires to achieve this breakthrough.

The structure delivers high solar hydrogen production efficiency in a half-cell configuration, with stable hydrogen production for over 800 hours at high current densities. It also extends the photoelectrode's service life from hours to months, overcoming the efficiency and reliability challenges traditional photoelectric hydrogen production devices face, according to the study.

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a technology that directly converts sunlight and water into green hydrogen. It has become an important research direction in the field of clean energy. However, many traditional photoelectrode materials are prone to corrosion and catalytic activity decay, which limits the durability of photoelectrodes.

The team developed the structure and loaded it with gold nanoparticles as a co-catalyst. This new approach enhances the catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction, prevents the detachment of gold nanoparticles during the reaction process, and avoids the decay of catalytic activity.

According to the study, the new structure, which is suitable for mass production, can be extended to other compound semiconductor and catalytic reaction systems. It is expected to play an important role in energy conversion and support global energy transition and sustainable development.