Solar Thermochemical Materials Research
NREL's materials discovery and design work on solar thermo-chemical hydrogen (STCH) focuses on discovering new redox materials and optimization of the high-potential STCH candidates by high-throughput experimental methods.
Such studies not only provide an efficient way to uncover new STCH materials but also help to better understand fundamental links between chemical composition, crystal structure, and STCH performance for generation of hydrogen at elevated temperatures.
Solar Thermo-Chemical Hydrogen Materials
One class of STCH materials we have worked on is (Ba,Sr)(Ce,Mn)O3 perovskites with complex chemical composition and tunable structure and properties.
Epitaxial Solar Thermo-Chemical Hydrogen Materials
We synthesize and characterize combinatorial epitaxial thin films of STCH materials, such as Sr(Ti,Mn)O3 on YSZ substrates. For these studies, we use pulsed laser deposition to grow epitaxial layers, measure their basic properties, and derive fundamental limits of their STCH performance.
Publications
For more information, see:
Combinatorial Screening of Temperature Dependent Crystal Structure in Ba-Sr-Mn-Ce Perovskite Oxides with ABO3 Stoichiometry, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2021)
Double-site Ce Substitution of (Ba,Sr)MnOPe Perovskites for Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production, ACS Energy Letters (2021).
Projects
NREL's work on thermochemical materials research for sustainable hydrogen production was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.
As part of this research, NREL has worked since 2017 with HydroGEN, a consortium of six Department of Energy national laboratories.
Research Collaborators
Ryan O’Hayre – Bulk oxides (Colorado School of Mines)
Sossina Haile – Epitaxial thin films (Northwestern University)
Contact
Share
Last Updated July 8, 2025