IIT, Yogi Vemana University team develops catalyst to produce green hydrogen, ammonia

NEW DELHI: A team of researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)Mandi, Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Delhi and Yogi Vemana University has replicated the structure of the leaf in a low-cost inorganic catalyst to enable light-induced production of green hydrogen and ammonia.

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The finding of their research, led by Venkata Krishnan of the School of Basic Sciences, IIT Mandi, was published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A, said a statement from the institute. “We have been interested in improving the efficiency of photocatalytic processes for the production of hydrogen and ammonia, because these two substances are industrially important,” said Krishnan.

The paper was co-authored by Krishnan’s research scholar, Ashish Kumar from IIT Mandi. The other authors include his collaborators, Saswata Bhattacharya and Manish Kumar from IIT Delhi, and Navakoteswara Rao, and MV Shankar from Yogi Vemana University, Andhra Pradesh.

The researchers believe that the use of photocatalysis in the production of these two chemicals can save energy and costs, and will also be environmentally friendly.

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“We were inspired by the light harvesting mechanism of leaves and replicated the surface and internal three-dimensional microstructures of the leaf of the Peepul tree in the calcium titanate to enhance the light harvesting properties,” said the lead researcher.

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