Spontaneous hydrogen production using gadolinium telluride
Partha Kumbhakar,
Arko Parui,
Shikha Dhakar,
Manas Paliwal,
Rakesh Behera,
Abhay Raj Singh Gautam,
Soumyabrata Roy,
Pulickel M. Ajayan,
Sudhanshu Sharma,
Abhishek K. Singh,
Chandra S. Tiwary
Affiliations
Partha Kumbhakar
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India; Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore 560029, India
Arko Parui
Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India
Shikha Dhakar
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar 382355, India
Manas Paliwal
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
Rakesh Behera
Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar 382355, India
Abhay Raj Singh Gautam
Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar 382355, India
Soumyabrata Roy
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Pulickel M. Ajayan
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA; Corresponding author
Sudhanshu Sharma
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar 382355, India; Corresponding author
Abhishek K. Singh
Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India; Corresponding author
Chandra S. Tiwary
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India; Corresponding author
Summary: Developing materials for controlled hydrogen production through water splitting is one of the most promising ways to meet current energy demand. Here, we demonstrate spontaneous and green production of hydrogen at high evolution rate using gadolinium telluride (GdTe) under ambient conditions. The spent materials can be reused after melting, which regain the original activity of the pristine sample. The phase formation and reusability are supported by the thermodynamics calculations. The theoretical calculation reveals ultralow activation energy for hydrogen production using GdTe caused by charge transfer from Te to Gd. Production of highly pure and instantaneous hydrogen by GdTe could accelerate green and sustainable energy conversion technologies.
