Cheap green hydrogen catalyst comes within 50 mV of ruthenium

Researchers built catalysts from nickel and iron oxides on carbon nanofibers grown on MXene. In the oxygen evolution reaction the nickel version needed 300 mV versus 250 mV for ruthenium oxide, trailing the benchmark by just 50 mV using inexpensive metals.

• Nickel catalyst needs 300 mV for oxygen evolution vs 250 mV for RuO2
• Hydrogen evolution requires 490 mV for nickel and 520 mV for iron at 10 mA/cm²
• Prototype electrolyzers stayed stable over 24 hours with 0.2–0.3 V voltage rise
• About 96% of the world's hydrogen is still made from fossil fuels