New Device to Harvest Water From the Air For Hydrogen Production

Engineers have developed a solar-powered device that has brought us one step closer to being able to harvest water from the air to produce hydrogen fuel.

For decades, researchers have dreamed of a solar-powered device that can harvest water from the air to produce hydrogen fuel. This is close to becoming a reality, as EPFL ( chemical engineer Kevin Sivula and his team have developed a system that combines semiconductor-based technology with novel electrodes that have two key characteristics: they are porous, to maximise contact with water in the air; and transparent, to maximise sunlight exposure of the semiconductor coating. The device aims to successfully facilitate hydrogen production just by being exposed to sunlight.

The results of the study, titled ‘Transparent Porous Conductive Substrates for Gas-Phase Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production,’ are published in the journal Advanced Materials.