Saltwater could be used to produce green hydrogen using a system that combines electrochemical water splitting with forward osmosis.
The approach could allow up-scaling of hydrogen fuel production using the planet’s predominantly salty natural water sources without pre-treatment or purification.
Using solar energy to electrochemically split water into oxygen and hydrogen, akin to how plants photosynthesise, shows much promise for renewable energy. The hydrogen that’s liberated can then be mixed with carbon dioxide to make hydrogen fuels.
However, efficient water splitting depends on catalytic electrodes, which usually require pure water at basic conditions to avoid damage. Scaling up water splitting to ultimately produce hydrogen fuels has, therefore, been limited by the need for costly desalination and purification processes to obtain enough pure deionised water. Meanwhile, most natural water sources are impure. Around 96.5% of the planet’s water is brackish or seawater, containing dissolved salts and organic matter that are corrosive to standard catalysts - link
However, efficient water splitting depends on catalytic electrodes, which usually require pure water at basic conditions to avoid damage. Scaling up water splitting to ultimately produce hydrogen fuels has, therefore, been limited by the need for costly desalination and purification processes to obtain enough pure deionised water. Meanwhile, most natural water sources are impure. Around 96.5% of the planet’s water is brackish or seawater, containing dissolved salts and organic matter that are corrosive to standard catalysts - link
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