Scientists develop energy-efficient hydrogen production by urea electrolysis

What is the News?

Indian Scientists have designed an electrocatalyst system for energy-efficient hydrogen production with the help of the electrolysis of urea.

Hydrogen Production by Urea electrolysis

The energy requirement for the production of hydrogen through water electrolysis can be reduced by 70% through urea electrolysis. 

This can be done by replacing the energy-intensive counterpart of water splitting, oxygen evolution, with urea oxidation in urea electrolysis. The low-cost, earth-abundant Ni-based catalysts are widely applied for this process.

However, the main challenge associated with this urea oxidation is retaining the prolonged activity of the catalyst as the strong adsorption of the reactive intermediate(COx) on the active site referred to as catalyst poisoning causes activity loss.

To overcome this problem, scientists have designed an electrocatalyst system for energy-efficient hydrogen production with the help of the electrolysis of urea.

What is the significance of the production of hydrogen by Urea electrolysis?

India is one of the top countries in urea production, and it produced 244.55 LMT of urea during 2019-20. The nitrogenous fertilizer industries generate a high concentration of ammonia and urea as effluents. Hence, this can be utilized for energy production towards our country’s benefits.

Source: This post is based on the article “Scientists develop energy-efficient hydrogen production by urea electrolysis” published in PIB on 9th Mar 2022.