A team at the University of Tokyo has demonstrated steam electrolysis using a solid acid electrolysis cell (SAEC) for the production of hydrogen. The SAEC used a CsH 2 PO 4 /SiP 2 O 7 composite electrolyte and Pt/C electrodes; hydrogen production was successfully demonstrated with Faraday efficiencies around 80%. Their paper appears in the journal ChemSusChem . According to thermodynamics, enthalpy change of the water electrolysis reaction (H 2 O → H 2 + ½O 2 ) can be written as ΔH = ΔG + TΔS, where H, G, S, T are enthalpy, Gibbs free energy, entropy, and temperature, respectively. This tells us that the total energy demand (ΔH) can be satisfied by electrical energy (ΔG) and heat (TΔS). ΔG decreases with the temperature while ΔH slightly increases. This means that the electric power required for the electrolysis becomes smaller at higher temperatures. Solid Oxide electrolysis is conducted […]