Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Solar-Driven Electrochemical Green Fuel Production from CO2 and Water Using Ti3C2Tx MXene-Supported CuZn and NiCo Catalysts
Published on: November 7, 2025
Photoelectrochemical hydrogen production in alkaline solutions using Cu2O coated with earth-abundant hydrogen
Carlos G Morales-Guio1, Laurent Liardet, Matthew T Mayer
1Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), ISIC-LSCI, BCH 3305, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland) http://lsci.epfl.ch.
Abstract:
The splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules using sunlight is an attractive method for solar energy storage. Until now, photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution is mostly studied in acidic solutions, in which the hydrogen evolution is more facile than in alkaline solutions. Herein, we report photoelectrochemical hydrogen production in alkaline solutions, which are more favorable than acidic solutions for the complementary oxygen evolution half-reaction. We show for the first time that amorphous molybdenum sulfide is a highly active hydrogen evolution catalyst in basic medium. The amorphous molybdenum sulfide catalyst and a Ni-Mo catalyst are then deposited on surface-protected cuprous oxide photocathodes to catalyze sunlight-driven hydrogen production in 1 M KOH. The photocathodes give photocurrents of -6.3 mA cm(-2) at the reversible hydrogen evolution potential, the highest yet reported for a metal oxide photocathode using an earth-abundant hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...
Electrodeposition
Electrodeposition can...

