Researchers have demonstrated the first “all-in-one” cocatalyst for photocatalytic overall water splitting, a breakthrough that could simplify the production of clean hydrogen fuel. The discovery marks an important step toward practical technologies that use sunlight and water to generate hydrogen, a key energy carrier expected to play a major role in building a decarbonized and sustainable society.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising clean energy source because it produces only water when used as fuel. Among the various methods for producing hydrogen, photocatalytic overall water splitting —using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen—has attracted increasing attention as an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach.