Artificial photosynthesis offers clean source of hydrogen

Devices made using conventional semiconductor technologies could make hydrogen using just fresh or saltwater and sunlight

The idea of a hydrogen economy, where currently oil and its derivatives underpin much of every day life but could be superseded using hydrogen as a fuel, has been around for decades.

It is delayed, however, by two factors: the lack of a distribution structure for hydrogen and the difficulty in making the gas.

There are two ways of producing hydrogen: decompose water into its constituent gases, which requires electricity; or make it from natural gas, which does not reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Researchers have been trying for many years to develop a method to use the sun’s energy to power water decomposition, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis whereby green plants convert solar into chemical energy, but nature’s tricks have, as ever, proved difficult to copy.

Zetian Mi, a specialist in computer and electrical engineering, began working on this problem while at McGill University in Montréal. Now at the University of Michigan, Mi has published a paper describing a device capable of this artificial photosynthesis and water decomposition in Nature Communications.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox