New Delhi: Indian scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding a key catalyst used in green hydrogen production, a development that could lead to cheaper and more efficient clean energy technologies.
A team led by Dr Neena S. John and PhD scholar Palash Jyoti Gogoi of the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, along with researchers from Kiel University, Germany, and the Indo-Korea Science and Technology Center (IKST), Bengaluru, studied the behaviour of molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) during water-splitting reactions. Hydrogen is considered a clean fuel of the future, and its production through water electrolysis depends heavily on catalysts. Contrary to the long-held belief that catalysts remain structurally stable, the study found that Mo₂C undergoes dynamic reconstruction during hydrogen evolution, forming oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide domains that significantly improve its activity and
stability.
