Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 4 hrs ago
Low-cost nickel catalyst comes within 50 millivolts of ruthenium
Researchers developed nickel- and iron-based catalysts for green hydrogen using common materials rather than costly precious metals.
Green hydrogen is made by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and it produces no carbon dioxide when the electricity comes from renewable sources.
The team grew carbon nanofibers on a conductive material called MXene and added particles of nickel oxide or iron oxide.
In tests of oxygen production, the nickel catalyst came within 50 millivolts of ruthenium oxide, a benchmark catalyst.
That result matters because most hydrogen today is made from fossil fuels, while expensive catalysts can raise the cost of making hydrogen by splitting water.
In full water-splitting cells, the iron catalyst performed better initially, reaching the target current at 2.2 volts compared with 2.7 volts for the nickel version.
Both prototype cells stayed stable during a 24-hour test, but the materials have not yet matched platinum for hydrogen production; the researchers say the approach could offer a scalable route to catalysts made from abundant materials.
Researchers developed nickel- and iron-based catalysts for green hydrogen production using carbon nanofibers grown on MXene.
In oxygen evolution tests, the nickel catalyst required 300 millivolts of overpotential, 50 millivolts more than ruthenium oxide.
The catalysts use inexpensive metals and could offer an alternative to catalysts made from scarce precious metals.
In complete water-splitting cells, the iron-based catalyst performed better initially, while both prototypes remained stable during a 24-hour test.
The findings were published in ACS Applied Nano Materials.
- Who
- Researchers who developed and tested the catalysts; their names are not stated.
- What
- They developed nickel- and iron-based catalysts for water splitting. The nickel catalyst came within 50 millivolts of ruthenium oxide in oxygen evolution tests.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-10-27; the study’s exact date is not stated.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- To develop a lower-cost alternative to catalysts made from scarce and expensive precious metals for green hydrogen production.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers grew carbon nanofibers on MXene and formed iron or nickel oxide particles at the fiber tips.
The team evaluated both materials in an alkaline electrolyte and found the nickel catalyst required 300 millivolts of overpotential for oxygen evolution.
Researchers assembled water-splitting cells using the same catalyst on both electrodes; the iron-based material reached the target current density at 2.2 volts, compared with 2.7 volts for the nickel catalyst.
Both prototype electrolyzers remained stable, with cell voltage increasing by 0.2 to 0.3 volts.
- Nickel catalyst, oxygen evolution
- 300 millivolts overpotential
- Ruthenium oxide, oxygen evolution
- 250 millivolts overpotential
- Performance gap
- 50 millivolts
- Iron-based cell voltage
- 2.2 volts to reach target current density
- Nickel-based cell voltage
- 2.7 volts to reach target current density
- Prototype stability test
- 24 hours
What people are saying
Growing the fibers directly on the MXene sheets gave us a conductive backbone and a lot of accessible active sites