Hydrogen produced from water is a promising renewable energy source – especially if the hydrogen is produced using sunlight. Now LiU researchers show that a combination of new materials improves the efficiency of the chemical reaction several times.
The new material has eight times better performance than pure cubic silicon carbide
Nowhere is it stated how efficient either material is, other than to say that the researchers are 5-10 years away from a material that’s 10% efficient. So they must have an efficiency of less than that I guess.
From the paper, the closest I can see is:
The applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) of the Ni(OH)2/Co3O4/3C-SiC photoanode reached 0.47% at 0.65 V vs RHE, which is 15.6 and 1.8 times higher than that of the 3C-SiC and Co3O4/3C-SiC photoanodes, respectively (Figure 4b)
I don’t know how representative that measurement is though.
The paper’s PDF give clearer, less click-baity information on efficiency:
The applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) of the Ni(OH)2/Co3O4/3C-SiC photoanode reached 0.47% at 0.65V vs RHE, which is 15.6 and 1.8 times higher than that of the 3C-SiC and Co3O4/3C-SiC photoanodes, respectively (Figure 4b).
A 8x increase is good progress for that specific technique, but 0.47% is very low efficiency. There’s still ways to go.
Nowhere is it stated how efficient either material is, other than to say that the researchers are 5-10 years away from a material that’s 10% efficient. So they must have an efficiency of less than that I guess.
From the paper, the closest I can see is:
I don’t know how representative that measurement is though.
Good question.
The paper’s PDF give clearer, less click-baity information on efficiency:
A 8x increase is good progress for that specific technique, but 0.47% is very low efficiency. There’s still ways to go.