Researchers KU Leuven crack code for affordable green hydrogen

Researchers at KU Leuven have succeeded in developing a special solar panel that makes hydrogen gas from the moisture in the air. After 10 years of development, the efficiency of one panel has been boosted to 250 litres per day, a world record according to the researchers. Twenty of these solar panels could power and heat a family for an entire year. The engineers showed us their world-first prototype. The first field test is in the works.

Under a faint sun, Professor Johan Martens' research team rolls the hydrogen panel onto the lawn in front of the Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis. The device looks like an ordinary solar panel. The engineers hung a flask with water on it so we can see the hydrogen bubbles escaping. A meter indicates the quantities. After a few seconds, the first bubbles begin to rise

Hydrogen gas is an energy carrier that can store and produce both electricity and heat. It is a gas that also does not release greenhouse gases or toxins when you use it. The condition, however, is that you make hydrogen with clean energy. And that is what Professor Martens' team has developed, a device that turns sun and water vapour into hydrogen gas.

"It is actually a unique combination of physics and chemistry. In the beginning, we had 0.1 per cent yield and we really had to look for those hydrogen molecules. Today, you see them coming up in bubbles. So that's 10 years of work, always improving, looking for the problems. That's how you end up with something that can work effectively."

Source: VRT