Amid global efforts to procure clean and renewable sources of energy,... Korean researchers have developed a catalyst system that can increase the efficiency and reduce the costs of hydrogen production.<br />Our Park Se-young has more.<br /><br />Shining light at the beaker of water creates hydrogen bubbles.<br />The film-like solid catalyst developed by Korean researchers uses regular light to convert water into hydrogen.<br />The catalyst turns black during the reaction and then returns to its original white color, ...which means it can be reused multiple times.<br /><br /><br />"We observed that hydrogen was created for a period of 48 hours in light. Hydrogen output stayed the same, so we believe the technology can be used for a long time without the catalyst losing performance."<br /><br />Under good lighting, a gram of the material used in the catalyst can create 30 milligrams of hydrogen per hour.<br />The new catalyst is 50 percent more efficient than existing systems.<br />And because it's made of copper instead of expensive platinum, it is much more cost-effective.<br />Also, retrieving hydrogen from water using light does not produce any harmful byproducts.<br /><br /><br />"At present, most hydrogen is made through a methane reformation technique. This is energy-intensive and generates a lot of byproducts like greenhouse gases. The new technology only produces hydrogen."<br /><br />The global market size for hydrogen was estimated to have surpassed 115 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.<br />With further research, the scientists expect the new technology to contribute to the industrial level production of the new energy source.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br />
