U of T Engineering PhD candidates Jehad Abed (left) and Hitarth Choubisa with a vial of the newly synthesized catalyst for hydrogen production, which was discovered with the help of a new quantum-inspired computing technique
U of T Engineering PhD candidates Jehad Abed ( left ) and Hitarth Choubisa with a vial of the newly synthesized catalyst for hydrogen production, which was discovered with the help of a new quantum-inspired computing technique - Researchers from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Fujitsu have developed a new way of searching through 'chemical space' for materials with desirable properties. The technique has resulted in a promising new catalyst material that could help lower the cost of producing clean hydrogen. The discovery represents an important step toward more sustainable ways of storing energy, including from renewable but intermittent sources, such as solar and wind power. "Scaling up the production of what we call green hydrogen is a priority for researchers around the world because it offers a carbon-free way to store electricity from any source," says Ted Sargent , a professor in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering and senior author on a new paper published in Matter . "This work provides proof-of-concept for a new approach to overcoming one of the key remaining challenges, which is the lack of highly active catalyst materials to speed up the critical reactions." Today, nearly all commercial hydrogen is produced from natural gas. The process produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct: if the CO2 is vented to the atmosphere, the product is known as 'grey hydrogen,' but if the CO2 is captured and stored, it is called 'blue hydrogen.' By contrast, 'green hydrogen' is a carbon-free method that uses a device known as an electrolyzer to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas.
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