{"id":112680,"date":"2026-02-14T02:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=112680"},"modified":"2026-02-14T09:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:49:08","slug":"scientists-use-sunlight-and-liquid-metal-to-produce-clean-hydrogen-from-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/science\/scientists-use-sunlight-and-liquid-metal-to-produce-clean-hydrogen-from-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists use sunlight and liquid metal to produce clean hydrogen from water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Researchers have created a process using liquid metals, powered by sunlight, that can produce clean hydrogen from both freshwater and seawater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The method allows researchers to \u2018harvest\u2019 hydrogen molecules from water while also avoiding many of the limits in current hydrogen production methods. It offers a new avenue of exploration for producing green hydrogen as a sustainable energy source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydrogen as a green energy fuel has long been the focus of countless scientists and industries. Researchers have been on the hunt for decades to find the most economical method to produce green hydrogen reliably to power the energy, transport, and manufacturing and agriculture industries, transforming production across multiple sectors of the global economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now have a way of extracting sustainable hydrogen, using seawater, which is easily accessible while relying solely on light for green hydrogen production,\u201d said lead author and PhD candidate Luis Campos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior researcher Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh, from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, says the study is a stunning showcase of how the natural chemistry of liquid metals can create hydrogen. His team produced hydrogen with a maximum efficiency of 12.9 percent, the team is currently working to improve the efficiency for commercialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the first proof-of-concept, we consider the efficiency of this technology to be highly competitive. For instance, silicon based solar cells started with six percent in the 1950s and did not pass 10 percent till the1990s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHydrogen offers a clean energy solution for a sustainable future and could play a pivotal role in Australia\u2019s international advantage in a hydrogen economy,\u201d says project co-lead Dr. Francois Allioux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the technology\u2019s heart is gallium, a metal with a low melting point, meaning it needs less energy to transition from a solid into a liquid. Professor Kalantar-Zadeh\u2019s team has been pushing the chemical and technical boundaries of liquid metals to create new materials for years. Gallium particles\u2019 ability to absorb light caught their attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of this finding was a technology using a circular chemical process: particles of gallium are suspended in either seawater or freshwater and activated under sunlight or artificial light. The gallium reacts with the water to become gallium oxyhydroxide and releases hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter we extract hydrogen, the gallium oxyhydroxide can also be reduced back into gallium and reused for future hydrogen production \u2013 which we term a circular process,\u201d says Professor Kalantar-Zadeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallium in liquid state is a fascinating element. At room temperature it looks like solid metal, but when heated to body temperature it transforms into liquid metallic puddles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Campos said the surface of liquid gallium is very chemically \u2018non-sticky,\u2019 and most materials will not attach to it under normal conditions. But when exposed to light in water, liquid gallium reacts at its surface, gradually oxidising and corroding. This reaction creates clean hydrogen and gallium oxyhydroxide on its surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGallium has not been explored before as a way to produce hydrogen at high rates when in contact with water – such a simple observation that was ignored previously,\u201d says Professor Kalantar-Zadeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n