High-entropy electrode improves efficiency of green hydrogen production
Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
image:
High-Entropy Electrode Improves Efficiency of Green Hydrogen Production
view moreCredit: CHEN Bin
A research team led by Prof. MENG Guowen and Prof. CHEN Bin from the Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a high-entropy antiperovskite electrode (InN(NiCoFeCrV)₃) supported by nickel foam for efficient anion-exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis, improving the efficiency and durability of hydrogen production.
The integrated electrode enabled an AEM electrolyzer to operate efficiently at high current densities, demonstrating its potential for large-scale green hydrogen production.
The study was published in ACS Nano.
Water electrolysis uses renewable electricity from sources such as solar and wind power to produce clean hydrogen. Among various technologies, AEM water electrolysis combines the advantages of traditional alkaline systems and proton-exchange membrane systems. However, its large-scale application is still limited by the slow oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the need for catalysts with high activity and long-term stability.
To address this challenge, the researchers designed a high-entropy antiperovskite electrode containing five metal elements — nickel, cobalt, iron, chromium, and vanadium — grown directly on nickel foam. The unique structure helps maintain catalytic activity while promoting the formation of active sites during operation.
"Our goal was to develop a durable and efficient electrode for large-scale hydrogen production," said Prof. MENG Guowen, "This electrode showed excellent oxygen evolution performance and long-term stability in AEM water electrolysis, demonstrating its potential for practical hydrogen production."
Tests showed that the electrode required an overpotential of only 279 mV to reach a current density of 100 mA cm-2 and remained stable for more than 500 hours in alkaline electrolyte. When used in an AEM electrolyzer, it delivered 500 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of 1.662 V and maintained stable operation for over 400 hours with little performance loss.
Further analysis showed that some metal elements gradually dissolved during operation, leading to the formation of an active surface layer. The interaction between the surface layer and the underlying material improved charge transfer and enhanced catalytic performance.
The study provides a new strategy for designing durable, low-cost electrodes for AEM water electrolysis and supports the development of more efficient green hydrogen technologies.
Journal
ACS Nano
Article Title
Defect-Driven Surface Reconstruction in High-Entropy Antiperovskite to Generate Mott–Schottky Interface for Boosting Oxygen Evolution
Green hydrogen production and storage using alcohols, iron, and baker's yeast
A new recyclable system uses baker's yeast to store H₂ in organic molecules and iron ions to release it when needed - offering a promising route toward more sustainable hydrogen production and storage.
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H₂ storage performance of polyhydric alcohols (LOHC) and the green H₂ production and storage cycle.
view moreCredit: Kouki Oka et al.
Hydrogen gas (H₂) is widely regarded as a promising clean energy source. By weight, it stores nearly three times more energy than gasoline, and its use does not directly release carbon dioxide (CO₂). Yet most H₂ is still produced from fossil fuels through CO₂-intensive processes. Storing and transporting this energy-rich gas are also costly and technically challenging. Therefore, developing sustainable methods for its production, storage, and safe transportation could lead to a cleaner energy future.
A research team from Tohoku University, in collaboration with Hokkaido University and Kyushu University, has taken a major step toward making this a reality by creating a new method for producing and storing H₂.
The method is based on a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) system that can store and release H₂ through reversible chemical reactions. Their concept uses polyhydric alcohols and polyketones as LOHCs, with baker's yeast helping to store H₂ produced from sustainable resources and iron ions releasing it.
In the proposed cycle, a polyketone, with the help of baker's yeast, water, and NADH - a biological molecule (coenzyme) involved in fermentation - transforms into a H₂-rich polyhydric alcohol.
Unlike conventional methods, this approach does not require H₂ to be produced, purified, compressed, and then introduced into the LOHC. Instead, H₂ produced from sustainable resources is stored directly in the organic molecule during the yeast-assisted reaction. When H₂ is needed, the polyhydric alcohol is converted back into the polyketone.
The team also demonstrated that light irradiation in the presence of iron ions can trigger H₂ release. Iron is inexpensive and abundant in the Earth's crust, making it a potentially more sustainable alternative to the precious-metal catalysts commonly used for this process.
The work demonstrates a recyclable green H₂ production and storage cycle using earth-abundant materials and biocatalysts. Ongoing work will test the method with more suitable alcohols, such as ethylene glycol. The researchers will also work to improve H₂ storage and release for practical use.
The research was published online in Journal of Materials Chemistry A on August 24, 2026.
Comparison of the alcoholic fermentation-based direct H₂ storage process with conventional technology.
Photocatalytic H₂ release method using low-cost, Earth-abundant iron ions.
Credit
Kouki Oka et al.
Journal
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Article Title
Hydrogen Gas Production and Storage Cycle of Polyhydric Alcohols/Polyketones
Article Publication Date
24-Aug-2026
Freezing fire: UT San Antonio scientists discover breakthrough for green energy
As the global push for cleaner energy intensifies, solid oxide fuel cells have emerged as a promising option. They turn hydrogen or other renewable fuels directly into electricity and heat without combustion, eliminating virtually all pollution and boosting efficiency to over 60%. But a major downside has kept them out of everyday commercial use: they require extremely high temperatures to operate.
A team of researchers at UT San Antonio and partnering institutions have found a way around that barrier. Instead of relying on perfectly ordered materials, they applied a thermal shock technique to create tiny clusters of disordered atoms that move oxygen ions much more easily at lower temperatures. The result could help make fuel cells cheaper, more durable and easier to use outside the lab.
“The golden rule has been that you need a perfect crystal lattice for fast ion movement,” said Chonglin Chen, PhD, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Sciences. “What we have done here challenges that assumption.”
The team recently published their findings in Science Advances, with Shengli Pang, a Jiangsu University researcher and member of Chen’s team, serving as the lead author.
The sub-400°C breakthrough
Conventional solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operate “inadequately” at temperatures lower than 400 degrees Celsius, making them incredibly difficult to use in commercial settings, Chen explained.
Conventional SOFCs need extreme temperatures, often exceeding 700°C, to operate. These volcanic temperatures accelerate material breakdown, demand expensive heat-resistant components to contain the heat, and cause long startup delays.
To solve this problem, the team turned to molecular nanotechnology, using extreme temperature swings to create materials with helpful imperfections at the atomic level. First, they baked a standard ceramic fuel cell material at a scorching 1,300°C. They then rapidly froze it through a technique called quenching — plunging it into liquid nitrogen at nearly –196°C. This violent temperature shock shatters the material’s rigid, glass-like structure into ultra-thin, microscopic clusters of atoms measuring just 0.63 nanometers thick — so small that thousands of them could stack across the width of a single human hair.
Chen said the idea came from steelmaking, where quenching is used to change the material’s structure. The team adapted that approach for ceramics and found that the resulting clusters conducted oxygen ions far better than expected.
When tested at 400°C, the material achieved record oxygen-ion conductivity, about 1,400 times higher than a conventional ceramic material.
The chaos advantage
The breakthrough challenges a longstanding assumption in materials science that the best conductors must have a perfectly ordered, rigid crystal structure, with the neat rows of atoms acting like well-defined lanes on a highway.
But when the team examined their new material with electron microscopes and X-ray analysis, they found that the atoms inside these tiny fragments were disordered and chaotic. Yet they were still performing well.
This is because in traditional materials, the atomic-scale paths eventually become blocked as atoms clump together under stress, creating bottlenecks that interrupt the energy flow. But inside the new, disordered nanoclusters were oxygen vacancies that stayed separate and active, while interacting to create a network that allowed ions to travel more freely.
“With these vacancy-isolated clusters, we created a chaotic, highly dynamic network where the oxygen vacancies remain independent,” Chen explained. “Instead of fighting the disorder, we are using it to create a kind of superhighway for the ions.”
What this means for clean energy
To demonstrate commercial viability, the team tested whether the material could improve real fuel cell performance. By blending a trace amount of the clusters — just 0.5% by weight — with a conventional cobalt-based fuel cell cathode, they tripled the fuel cell’s peak power output.
In addition to boosting power, the clusters also boost durability. Standard fuel cells degrade quickly, losing over 13% of their power every 100 hours of use under the intense stress of high temperatures. But fuel cells enhanced with the disordered nanoclusters became 3.4% more stable and efficient with continued use.
“It acts as an atomic shield, boosting power while actively stopping the degradation that normally kills these devices,” Chen said.
Chen believes that the method could be easy for manufacturers to adopt because it requires only a small amount of the new material rather than a complete redesign of existing systems. They are now working on ways to scale up production.
“This will bring us one step closer to practical, next-generation green energy,” Chen added.
Journal
Science Advances
Article Title
Disordered vacancy-isolated Ce-Gd-O clusters achieve exceptional low-temperature oxygen-ion conductivity for fuel cells
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