Beyond Oxygen: Technion Researchers Combine Hydrogen Production with the Synthesis of Value-Added Chemicals
A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications presents a Technion breakthrough in hydrogen production: a green, cost-effective process that generates hydrogen while simultaneously producing valuable chemicals for industry. The research was led by Prof. Avner Rothschild, a faculty member in the Technion Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering and Head of the Technion Sustainability Frontier, together with postdoctoral researcher Dr. Guilin Ruan. A U.S. patent application has been filed for the pioneering technology.
Green hydrogen is widely regarded as one of the most important energy sources of the future. It is produced by splitting water using electricity generated from renewable sources and is expected to play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industries that are difficult to electrify directly, such as steel and fertilizer production, petroleum refining, and the production of alternative transportation fuels. Green hydrogen may also support the long-term storage of solar and wind energy. However, its industrial adoption remains limited because it is more expensive than hydrogen produced from natural gas or coal – processes responsible for approximately 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
“We approached this challenge by rethinking the water-splitting process,” explained Prof. Rothschild. “Our goal was to replace the oxygen normally produced alongside hydrogen with another product of much higher value – an epoxide. Epoxides are essential building blocks in the production of polymers, coatings, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and many other products. In the experiments presented in our paper, we demonstrate 98% efficiency both in hydrogen generation and in the parallel reaction that produces the epoxide. In other words, almost all the electrical charge drove the desired electrochemical reactions, with only 2% lost to competing processes. Moreover, the current density we achieved is compatible with large-scale industrial electrolysis.”
The new process builds on a family of earlier technologies developed at the Technion by Prof. Rothschild and his collaborators, all based on separating the electrochemical reaction that produces hydrogen from the one that produces oxygen. This separation forms the basis of membrane-free electrolysis, a breakthrough technology for hydrogen production. One of the earlier derivatives of this technology is commercialized by H2Pro, while the new derivative emerged from groundbreaking research supported by the European Research Council (ERC).
According to Dr. Guilin Ruan, the lead researcher who conceived and developed the new process, “Our achievement is not limited to developing a single new electrode or an isolated chemical reaction. It represents a conceptual shift in which all components of the system – the electrodes, the redox mediator, the solvent environment, and the operating configuration – work together. By optimizing the entire system, we succeeded in producing both hydrogen and epoxide efficiently without the need for a membrane separating the electrodes.”
Prof. Avner Rothschild heads the Technion Sustainability Frontier and is a member of the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering. He is also affiliated with the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Sustainability Center for Catalysis, the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program, and the Israel National Institute for Energy Storage (INIES).
The research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) through the H2Bro project, following Prof. Rothschild’s award of a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant in 2023. The work is also part of the Waste to Value inter-university research initiative funded by Israel’s Council for Higher Education.
Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-76617-x
