Researchers at Oregon State University developed a new family of metal-organic framework materials that use sunlight to convert water into hydrogen fuel efficiently. Led by Kyriakos Stylianou, the team detailed their photocatalyst discovery in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Oregon State University researchers created a new class of materials that splits water into hydrogen using only sunlight, bypassing the electrical grid and the carbon footprint of traditional industrial methods.
BVR-19 Converts Sunlight Into Fuel
The research focuses on a crystalline, porous substance called a metal-organic framework, or MOF. These materials feature nanosized pores and customizable properties that allow scientists to tailor them for specific chemical tasks.
The OSU team focused on an established structure designated as BVR-19, despite the fact that chemistry researchers have already synthesized nearly 100,000 different MOFs and predicted the properties of half a million more. This specific MOF contains a sulfide-to-sulfide bond that undergoes transient cleavage when exposed to light, generating reactive sulfur species that drive the reaction.
“The organic component does the important work. Instead of relying primarily on the metal atoms, our material uses its sulfur-containing organic building blocks to capture light energy and move electrons where they are needed to produce hydrogen. This represents a different way of thinking about how these materials should be designed.”
Kyriakos Stylianou, Oregon State University College of Science
New Design Cuts Catalyst Costs
The material eliminates the need for an additional expensive metal catalyst because the organic sulfur building blocks handle the electron transfer. BVR-19 forms spontaneously in aqueous solutions at room temperature, which provides an energy advantage during manufacturing.
Standard water splitting typically produces renewable green
hydrogen at about $5 a kilogram. In contrast, the industrial standard of methane-steam reforming extracts hydrogen from natural gas while releasing carbon dioxide at a cost of roughly $1.50 per kilogram.
“Our work provides a blueprint for designing better materials that can bring down the cost of green hydrogen,”
Kyriakos Stylianou, who directs OSU’s Materials Discovery Laboratory, known as the MaD Lab
“By changing the metal while keeping the rest of the material essentially the same, we discovered why some versions of the MOF work much better than others.”
Kyriakos Stylianou, who directs OSU’s Materials Discovery Laboratory, known as the MaD Lab
“These findings provide new design rules for creating more effective materials for solar fuel production.”
Kyriakos Stylianou, who directs OSU’s Materials Discovery Laboratory, known as the MaD Lab
Solar Hydrogen Fuels Multiple Industries
Hydrogen produced through this solar-powered catalyst can power automotive fuel cells or be used to manufacture ammonia, refine metals, and produce plastics.
The research team operating inside the OSU College of Science’s Materials Discovery Laboratory included Emmanuel Musa, Dylan Pyle, Jacob Lessard, Andrzej Gladysiak, Ankit Yadav, Silas Blessed, Prayash Mohanty, Logan Lancaster, Taylor Krueger, Min Soo Jung, Galen Fritz, Jacob Hirschi, Hongliang Huang, William Stickle, Xiulei Ji, Chong Fang, and Tim Zuehlsdorff. Financial support for the study came from the National Science Foundation, the Murdock Charitable Trust, and the university’s College of Science.
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