The University of Birmingham in the UK recently announced a breakthrough in low-temperature hydrogen production. A team led by Professor Yulong Ding from the School of Chemical Engineering has developed a perovskite catalyst that can reduce the operating temperature of thermochemical water splitting by approximately 500 degrees Celsius. The research has been published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Current mainstream thermochemical water splitting methods for hydrogen production require catalysts to complete the water splitting reaction at 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius and achieve regeneration at a high temperature range of 1300 to 1500 degrees Celsius. The Birmingham team used a BNCF perovskite material composed of barium, niobium, calcium, and iron as the catalyst, lowering the hydrogen generation temperature to 150 to 500 degrees Celsius and the regeneration temperature to 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius.
Professor Yulong Ding pointed out: "The lower overall temperature of this process allows hydrogen to be produced near renewable energy power plants. Basic industrial sectors such as steel, cement, glass, and chemicals have large amounts of waste heat, which can serve as a heat source for low-temperature hydrogen production. If hydrogen is used locally, it can overcome barriers related to storage and transportation, thereby enabling the widespread use of hydrogen fuel without the need for expensive infrastructure."
Preliminary cost competitiveness analysis indicates that using this perovskite catalyst for water splitting to produce hydrogen is cheaper than green hydrogen obtained through water electrolysis and also superior to blue hydrogen produced from methane with carbon capture and storage technology. In regions with relatively low renewable energy electricity prices, such as Australia, this cost advantage is even more pronounced.
Regarding catalyst performance, the research team tested a specific formulation named BNCF100, confirming that the catalyst can maintain stable hydrogen output capacity over ten operating cycles. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that its structure remained almost unchanged throughout the process. Since BNCF perovskite materials contain no toxic components, have widely available raw material sources, and do not require complex synthesis, they hold promising prospects for large-scale application.
This research was completed through collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the University of Science and Technology Beijing. University of Birmingham Enterprise has filed a patent application for the use of BNCF catalysts in low-temperature water splitting and is currently seeking development partners in the UK and Europe to advance this technology route towards industrialization.
Publication Details: Exceptional thermochemical water splitting for hydrogen production at intermediate temperatures in Ba2Ca0.66Nb1.34 -xFexO6 - δ perovskite, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2026). Journal Information: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy