The University of Alicante leads a European project to design an innovative device capable of generating hydrogen from solar energy

One of the main challenges of the 21st century is to solve the growing energy demand to cope with the depletion of fossil fuels, as well as reduce CO2 emissions. In this sense, artificial photosynthesis is presented as one of the most sustainable techniques to obtain hydrogen as fuel from two resources as abundant as solar energy and water. The European FotoH2 project, coordinated by the University of Alicante, focuses precisely on the design and development of a photoelectrochemical device capable of producing the direct conversion of solar energy into chemical energy contained in the bonds of hydrogen molecules.

"Artificial photosynthesis is one of the alternatives that can help reduce our dependence on non-renewable energies. In this context, this project is developed to design a device for converting solar energy into chemistry (hydrogen from the photoelectrolysis of water) that also provides a method to accumulate energy, "explains the project's principal investigator, Roberto Gómez, of the Department of Physical Chemistry and member of the University Institute of Electrochemistry of the UA.