The development of hydrogen-related technologies is essential to realize and sustain a carbon-neutral society. Hydrogen is obtained from the electrolysis of water; however, current catalysts are made of rare and expensive metals. A research group led by the University of Tsukuba has developed a novel and highly active catalyst for the electrolysis of water using boron and sulfur, which are abundant and inexpensive.
Society must reduce the rate of use of fossil fuels and use renewable energy generated using solar and wind power efficiently to achieve a carbon-neutral society, where greenhouse gas emissions and absorption are balanced. In addition, hydrogen (green hydrogen) obtained from the electrolysis of water using renewable energy is important for reducing the environmental impact.
Electrode catalysts promote oxygen evolution reactions to make water electrolysis efficient. Currently, rare and expensive metals, such as ruthenium and iridium, are used for the production of electrocatalysts. However, new electrocatalyst materials that use more abundant and less expensive elements must be developed to ensure the sustainable development of our society.
The research group led by the University of Tsukuba previously reported the synthesis of rhombohedral boron monosulfide (r-BS), which contains boron and sulfur in a 1:1 composition ratio and has large reserves, as a potential material for the production of a novel electrocatalyst material.
In this study, published in Journal of Chemical Engineering, the research group successfully synthesized r-BS + G (ie, r-BS complexed with graphene nanoplatelets that are sheet-like carbon). In addition, it serves as an electrocatalyst for the electrolysis of water in an alkaline aqueous solution and exhibits high catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction. It is believed that this catalyst can be used in a practical green hydrogen production system to further improve the catalytic activity.
More information:
Linghui Li et al, Boron monosulfide as an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction, Journal of Chemical Engineering (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.144489
Provided by the University of Tsukuba
Citation: Team develops highly active catalyst for alkaline water electrolysis using boron and sulfur (2023, July 20) retrieved on July 20, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-07-team-highly-catalyst-alkaline-electrolysis.html
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