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This research was funded by The European Union through ERC-PoC grant HYDRER (ID 664719) and ERC StG grant CHEMCOMP (ID 279313); the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion through Severo Ochoa Excellence Accreditation 2020-2023 (ID CEX2019-000925-S, MIC/AEI); the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (project RTI2018-095618-B-I00); the Generalitat de Catalunya (ID 2017-SGR-1406), and the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya.

Analysis of institutional authors

Garces-Pineda, FaCorresponding AuthorGalan-Mascaros, JrAuthor

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April 11, 2022
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An Autonomous Device for Solar Hydrogen Production from Sea Water

Publicated to:Water. 14 (3): 453-- - 2022-02-01 14(3), DOI: 10.3390/w14030453

Authors: Gonzalez-Cobos, Jesus; Rodriguez-Garcia, Barbara; Torrens, Mabel; Alonso-Almirall, Oscar; Aliaguilla, Marti; Gali, David; Gutierrez-Tauste, David; Galindo-Anguera, Magi; Garces-Pineda, Felipe A; Galan-Mascaros, Jose Ramon

Affiliations

Barcelona Inst Sci & Technol BIST, Inst Chem Res Catalonia ICIQ, Av Paisos Catalans 16, Tarragona 43007, Spain - Author
ICREA, Passeig Lluis Co 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain - Author
LEITAT Technol Ctr, C de Innovac 2, Terrassa 08225, Spain - Author
Univ Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Inst Rech Catalyse & Environm Lyon, UMR 5256, 2 Ave A Einstein, F-69626 Villeurbanne, France - Author
Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Enginyeria Quim, Av Paisos Catalans 26, Tarragona 43007, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Hydrogen production from water electrolysis is one of the most promising approaches for the production of green H-2, a fundamental asset for the decarbonization of the energy cycle and industrial processes. Seawater is the most abundant water source on Earth, and it should be the feedstock for these new technologies. However, commercial electrolyzers still need ultrapure water. The debate over the advantages and disadvantages of direct sea water electrolysis when compared with the implementation of a distillation/purification process before the electrolysis stage is building in the relevant research. However, this debate will remain open for some time, essentially because there are no seawater electrolyser technologies with which to compare the modular approach. In this study, we attempted to build and validate an autonomous sea water electrolyzer able to produce high-purity green hydrogen (>90%) from seawater. We were able to solve most of the problems that natural seawater electrolyses imposes (high corrosion, impurities, etc.), with decisions based on simplicity and sustainability, and those issues that are yet to be overcome were rationally discussed in view of future electrolyzer designs. Even though the performance we achieved may still be far from industrial standards, our results demonstrate that direct seawater electrolysis with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of approximate to 7% can be achieved with common, low-cost materials and affordable fabrication methods.

Keywords

CostsDesign and constructionDetection methodDistillationEfficiency measurementElectrodesElectrokinesisElectrolysisElectrolytic cellsGenerationHydrogenHydrogen productionNon-noble catalystNon-noble catalystsOxidationOxygen evolutionPerforationPerformance assessmentPrototype design and constructionPrototype designsPrussian blueSea waterSeawaterSeawater corrosionSeawater electrolysisSolar hydrogenSolar powerSolar power generationWater electrolysis]+ catalyst

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Water due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Aquatic Science.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-08-02:

  • Google Scholar: 3
  • WoS: 5

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 47.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 51 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 8 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/2072/530388

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: France.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Gonzalez-Cobos, J) and Last Author (Galán Mascarós, José Ramón).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Garcés Pineda, Felipe Andrés.