From pv magazine Australia.

Griffith University researchers have reported a breakthrough in clean hydrogen electrolysis which uses CoSe 2 ‘nanobelts’ – ultrathin sheets made of a lattice of cobalt (Co) and selenium (Se) – as highly-efficient water-splitting electrocatalysts.

The scientists combined two processes to harness the nanobelts in the oxidation or breakdown of water.

In the paper Approaching the activity limit of CoSe 2 for oxygen evolution via Fe doping and Co vacancy, published in Nature Communications, the team from the south east Queensland institution described the use of iron (Fe) doping – which replaced some of the nanobelt cobalt – and ‘cobalt (Co) vacancy’, which removed more of the material. The processes marginally improve nanobelt efficiency as an electrocatalyst when used separately, according to the researchers, and dramatically improve performance when combined.

“Our discovery, that by combining these two processes we can push this catalyst to its activity limit is very exciting,’’ said Yuhai Dou from the university’s Center for Clean Environment and Energy. “This unlocks not just the catalytic power of CoSe 2 nanobelts, but catalysts for all sorts of electrochemical reactions.’’