Turning seawater into hydrogen fuel
April 11, 2023 – Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University with collaborators at the University of Oregon and Manchester Metropolitan University have found a way to tease hydrogen out of the ocean by funneling seawater through a double-membrane system and electricity. Their innovative design proved successful in generating hydrogen gas without producing large amounts of harmful byproducts. According to SLAC, the results of their study, published April 11th in Joule, could help advance efforts to produce low-carbon fuels.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, United States. Today SLAC research centers on a broad program in atomic and solid-state physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. The laboratory is under the programmatic direction of the United States Department of Energy Office of Science.
Illustration: This figure represents a bipolar membrane system that converts seawater into hydrogen gas. A representation of the team’s bipolar membrane system that converts seawater into hydrogen gas. (Nina Fujikawa/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
