Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad have created a new electrode material that could make green hydrogen much cheaper to produce. It is possibly 400–500 times cheaper than current methods.
This new material could make green hydrogen production more affordable and easier to scale up, which is important for clean energy development.
India is aiming to produce five million tonnes of green hydrogen every year by 2030 under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. These innovations could be useful to achieve that goal.
Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water using renewable energy. It is expected to play a major role in reducing pollution in industries such as steel, fertilisers, oil refining, and chemicals.
The team of researchers, headed by S. K. Riyajuddin of the Physics Department, focused on finding a solution to one of the largest problems in the production of hydrogen, which is the high cost of catalyst materials. Currently, the process depends on expensive metals like platinum and ruthenium.
To reduce costs, the team created a new catalyst by combining molybdenum disulfide, vanadium sulfide, and reduced graphene oxide. These materials are more easily accessible and less expensive, making them ideal for large-scale applications.
The experiments revealed that the newly created catalyst lowers the energy needed for water splitting, thus making the production of hydrogen more efficient. The team also successfully demonstrated the production of hydrogen using a solar cell and a water-splitting apparatus.
The study was published in the international journal Small, published by Wiley, and could support India’s transition toward cleaner energy technologies.
Source
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2026/Feb/16/dhanbad-iit-ism-develops-low-cost-catalyst-to-boost-green-hydrogen-production
