Hydrogen fuel production usually requires large amounts of energy, making it cost-prohibitive. A paper published in Frontiers in Science outlines key discoveries in photosynthesis and photocatalyst sheets for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using solar power. It reports near-perfect conversion of photocatalytic water splitting using ultraviolet light and the potential for scaling to a large outdoor prototype panel reactor system.

The processes remain experimental and will need further research and development to become practical, efficient and scalable, and to ensure safe recovery of the oxyhydrogen gas. If successful, this technology could produce a sustainable, low-cost green fuel to replace fossil fuels for energy.