Discovering the Power of Earth-Friendly Metals for Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is vital for generating hydrogen fuel through water splitting. To make this process sustainable, researchers are searching for abundant materials like silicates. A recent study synthesized various metal metasilicates using a simple wet-chemical method followed by high-temperature calcination. These materials have unique structures and band gaps ranging from 1. 49 to 2. 24 eV. Among them, CuZnSiO3, made of common earth metals, shines with a band gap of 1. 67 eV and impressive HER activity. It requires less energy (151 mV at 10 mA cm-2) and maintains stability (ΔE = 24 mV after 25 hours). Its performance is close to that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. Detailed electronic structure studies using DFT and transport studies explain why CuZnSiO3 outperforms CuSiO3 and ZnSiO3.