BRIN Develops Innovative Material for Clean Hydrogen Production

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is developing a NiFe-LDH/Ag₃PO₄ composite as an innovative material to increase the production of clean hydrogen and oxygen through the water splitting process.

Yusuf Mathiinul Hakim, a researcher at BRIN’s Catalysis Research Centre, explained in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday that hydrogen is a vital clean energy source playing a crucial role in supporting the transition towards sustainable energy.

“NiFe-LDH material has been widely developed as a transition metal-based catalyst because it has relatively low production costs and good electrochemical activity,” he said.

However, Yusuf noted that limited conductivity remains a challenge in improving the performance of such materials during the hydrogen evolution reaction.

To address this issue, he and his team developed a heterostructure-based composite by combining NiFe-LDH with Ag₃PO₄, which serves as a supporting semiconductor.

In terms of electrochemical performance, Yusuf stated that the NiFe-LDH/Ag₃PO₄ composite possesses a significantly higher electrochemical surface area (ECSA) compared to its individual components. During Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) testing, the NiFe/AP composite demonstrated the lowest overpotential of 156.6 mV, which is lower than both pure NiFe and single Ag₃PO₄.

Overall, this research proves that the engineering of the NiFe-LDH/Ag₃PO₄ heterostructure is effective in increasing electrocatalytic activity for water splitting.

This finding opens up significant opportunities for the composite to serve as a candidate material for more efficient and sustainable hydrogen production.

“This increase in ECSA indicates that the formation of the heterostructure is capable of providing more active sites for the reaction,” said Yusuf Mathiinul Hakim.