Hydrogen gas is seen by some as the holy grail of alternative fuels. It is clean, it is green, and it is plentiful. However it is also expensive to make thanks to the need for platinum and other rare earth elements required to make the hydrogen catalyst. Thankfully, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new electrocatalyst that addresses the high cost problems by generating hydrogen gas from water cleanly and with a much more affordable material – a form of nickel-molybdenum-nitride, basically nickel.

Hydrogen can be oxidized into a fuel cell to generate electricity, for example to power cars, without releasing carbon dioxide (CO2), and it can be produced in remote places without an electric infrastructure. The potential for hydrogen is as a viable alternative fuel is very high.

In order to get hydrogen gas, you have to break up a water molecule. The process is done through the electrolysis of water, splitting water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2). This requires external electricity and an efficient catalyst to break the chemical bonds and shift around protons and electrons.

via Hydrogen Without The High Cost.