A new single-atom catalyst can produce hydrogen from urea at an exceptional rate

While hydrogen is widely suggested as an alternative fuel with zero carbon emission, the majority of commercial hydrogen fuel production is obtained from the refining of fossils fuels. The limited reservoir of fossils fuels and their negative impact on the environment has encouraged researchers to develop alternative technologies to produce hydrogen fuel through an eco-friendly process. Such "green hydrogen" can be produced from the electrolysis of water, which is abundant in nature, using electricity derived from a renewable energy source. However, the efficiency of water electrolysis is significantly limited due to the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which requires a high thermodynamic voltage of 1.23 V.