Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 day ago
Porous crystal uses light to produce hydrogen from water
Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a porous crystal called BVR-19 that uses light to help produce hydrogen from water.
Hydrogen can power fuel cells and is also used to make ammonia, refine metals and manufacture plastics.
Today, much hydrogen is made from natural gas, a process that releases carbon dioxide.
Producing hydrogen from water can avoid that source of emissions, but it requires energy and can be costly.
The researchers say BVR-19 captures light with sulfur-containing parts of its structure and uses that energy to drive hydrogen production without an added metal catalyst.
The work could help guide the design of materials for making hydrogen using sunlight, though the findings do not establish that the crystal is ready for large-scale use.
The researchers’ findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Researchers at Oregon State University developed a porous crystal called BVR-19 that uses light to produce hydrogen from water.
The material works without an added costly metal catalyst.
Light activates sulfur-containing organic components in the crystal, helping move electrons to produce hydrogen.
The researchers say changing the metal while keeping the rest of the material similar showed why some versions performed better.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
- Who
- Oregon State University chemist Kyriakos Stylianou and his collaborators.
- What
- They developed BVR-19, a porous crystal that uses light to produce hydrogen from water without an added costly metal catalyst.
- When
- The study was published on October 11, 2026.
- Where
- Oregon State University; the research was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
- Why
- The work aims to help design more effective materials for producing hydrogen from sunlight.
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- Material
- BVR-19
- Research institution
- Oregon State University
- Study journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Hydrogen cost comparison
- About $1.50 per kilogram from methane-steam reforming versus about $5 per kilogram for green hydrogen
What people are saying
These findings provide new design rules for creating more effective materials for solar fuel production.
Instead of relying primarily on the metal atoms, our material uses its sulfur-containing organic building blocks to capture light energy and move electrons where they are needed to produce hydrogen.
Sources
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