IICT senior scientist M. Chandrasekharam with his research team.
Hydrogen is a clean energy source and its energy density as a fuel is said to be approximately 15 times higher than batteries and three times higher than gasoline. The concept of hydrogen replacing conventional fossil fuels with a low-carbon substitute for energy needs has been a quest for scientists.
If Hydrogen generation is considered to be the holy grail of artificial photosynthesis, the concept of utilizing sunlight to produce clean fuel is considered to be one of the holy grails of chemistry. For achieving this non spontaneous reaction, a highly efficient photocatalytic systems is necessary.
For designing a photo-electro-chemical cell to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight, the existing technology requires huge fabrication costs where electricity from solar cells can be used to drive the water-splitting reaction. Catalysts are required to make the water-splitting reaction economically viable.
Scientists at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here claimed to have achieved success in designing a new catalyst for producing โGreen Hydrogenโ through a catalyst โ โcobalt(III) based bis-terpyridineโ โ found to be having wide light-harvesting capabilities.
The scientists team, including Malapaka Chandrasekharam, Ujwal Pal, Binitendra Naath Mongal Saddam Sk, Amritanjali Tiwari, Saad Mehmood and Yarasi Soujanya, assert that the new design catalyst could effectively harness sunlight to generate hydrogen unlike conventional hydrogen production systems relying on fossil fuels.
This new system harnesses solar energy alone using a photo-electro-chemical setup. It typically involves combining a visible-light-absorbing chromophore, serving as the photosensitizer, with a catalyst. The combination allows for the efficient conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, enabling processes like hydrogen generation from water splitting. This cobalt-based compound plays a crucial role in capturing sunlight and initiating a chemical reaction that splits water molecules to release hydrogen gas, said scientists.
โWe envision hydrogen as the fuel of the future, and thereโs a pressing need to produce it both affordably and at scale. The technology offers a promising step towards large- scale hydrogen production, paving the way for a greener, more sustainable energy future,โ says the studyโs lead scientist Chandrasekharam, who has just retired from the institute.
โOur work may help in creating new avenues for designing such transition metal complexes that can function as effective photosensitizers as well as electrocatalysts,โ he said, in an exclusive interaction. The study – A bifunctional cobalt bis(terpyridine) complex for efficient water splitting to green hydrogen generationโ, has been published in recent edition of โSciencedirect Next Energyโ journal.
