big win

Rice University team breaks records with new sunlight-to-hydrogen device

Rice University engineers have created a device that absorbs light, converts it into electricity, and then uses the electricity to split water molecules and generate hydrogen. Photo courtesy Gustavo Raskoksy/Rice University

A team of Rice University engineers have developed a scalable photoelectrochemical cell that converts sunlight into clean hydrogen at a record-setting pace.

The lab led by Aditya Mohite, an associate professor at Rice, published the findings in a study in Nature Communications late last month, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is backed by the Department of Energy. In it, the team details how they created a device that absorbs light, converts it into electricity, and then uses the electricity to split water molecules and generate hydrogen.

Austin Fehr, a chemical and biomolecular engineering doctoral student at Rice and one of the study’s lead authors, says in a statement that the device "could open up the hydrogen economy and change the way humans make things from fossil fuel to solar fuel."

The device has a high solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency rate of 20.8 percent, which has yet to be reached with this type of technology, according to a release from Rice. In addition to its speed, this device is groundbreaking because it uses low-cost metal-halide perovskite semiconductors to power the reaction.

A photoreactor developed by Rice University’s Mohite research group and collaborators achieved a 20.8 percent solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. Photo courtesy Gustavo Raskoksy/Rice University

“Using sunlight as an energy source to manufacture chemicals is one of the largest hurdles to a clean energy economy,” Fehr says in the statement. “Our goal is to build economically feasible platforms that can generate solar-derived fuels. Here, we designed a system that absorbs light and completes electrochemical water-splitting chemistry on its surface.”

To create the device the Mohite lab turned their existing solar cell into a reactor to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. However they continued running into issues with the semiconductors being "extremely unstable in water," according to Rice.

After two years of trials and errors, the team uncovered that by adding two layers of barriers to the semiconductors they were able to reach these record-breaking efficiency rates.

The team has also shown uses for their double barrier design with different semiconductors and for different reactions.

“We hope that such systems will serve as a platform for driving a wide range of electrons to fuel-forming reactions using abundant feedstocks with only sunlight as the energy input,” Mohite says in the statement.

The device joins another game-changing product shared in a Rice research study in recent weeks. Last month, a Rice University lab led by Haotian Wang, the William Marsh Rice Trustee Chair and an associate professor at Rice, shared their findings on how their simple plug-and-play device removes carbon dioxide from air capture to induce a water-and-oxygen-based electrochemical reaction.

Rice also recently opened registration for its 20th anniversary of Energy Tech Venture Day. Click here to register for the event on Sept. 21.

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A View From HETI

Here are the 100 startups selected to participate in this year's Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum. Photo by Natalie Harms

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has named the 100 energy technology ventures that will convene next month at the 22nd annual Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, as part of the second annual Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

Half of the startups, which hail from nine countries and 19 states, will pitch during the event, which culminates in the annual recognition of the “Most Promising Companies." The 12 companies that were named to Class 5 of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator will present during Demo Day to wrap up their 10-week program.

In addition to pitches, the event will also host keynotes from Arjun Murti, partner of energy macro and policy at Veriten, and Susan Schofer, partner at HAX and chief science officer at SOSV. Panels will focus on corporate innovation and institutional venture capital. Attendees can also participate in one-on-one office hours with founders and investors.

The forum will take place Sept. 18 at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

The 2025 presenting companies include:

  • Aeromine Technologies
  • AlumaPower
  • Ammobia
  • Aqua-Cell Energy
  • Aquafortus
  • Aquora Biosystems
  • Arculus Solutions
  • Artemis Production Solutions
  • AtmoSpark Technologies
  • AtoMe
  • Badwater Alchemy
  • C+UP
  • Carbon Blade
  • Circul8 Energy & Environment
  • CO2 Lock
  • Direct C
  • DirectH2
  • Ekona Power
  • Exum Instruments
  • Fathom Storage
  • Flyscan Systems
  • Geokiln Energy Innovation
  • Glint Solar
  • Hive Autonomy
  • Horne Technologies
  • Hydrogenious LOHC Maritime
  • Innowind Energy Solutions
  • Iron IQ
  • Kewazo
  • LiNova Energy
  • Lukera Energy
  • Lydian
  • Mcatalysis
  • Metal Light
  • Mithril Minerals
  • Moment Energy
  • Moonshot Hydrogen
  • Muon Vision
  • PolyQor
  • Polystyvert dba UpSolv
  • Precision Additive
  • RapiCure Solutions
  • Resollant
  • SiriNor
  • Skyven Technologies
  • Sperra
  • SpiroPak
  • Sweetch Energy
  • Teverra
  • Utility Global
  • Xplorobot

Companies participating in office hours include:

  • Active Surfaces
  • Advanced Reactor Technologies
  • Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems
  • Ai Driller
  • Airbridge
  • Airworks Compressors
  • Austere Environmental
  • Brint Tech
  • CarbonX Solutions
  • Cavern Energy Storage
  • Celadyne Technologies
  • CERT Systems
  • CubeNexus
  • Deep Anchor Solutions
  • Ellexco
  • Emerald Battery Labs
  • Equipt.ai
  • FAST Metals
  • FieldMesh
  • FlowCellutions
  • Fluidsdata
  • GrapheneTX
  • GS VORTEX SYSTEMS
  • Installer
  • Kanin Energy
  • MacroCycle Technologies
  • Modular MOPU
  • NANOBORNE
  • NetForwards
  • Oxylus Energy
  • PetroBricks
  • PHNXX
  • RASMAG Energy
  • RedShift Energy
  • RENASYS
  • RenewCO2
  • Resonantia Diagnostics
  • Respire Energy
  • Safety Radar
  • SeaStock
  • Secant Fuel
  • SolGrapH
  • Stratos Perception
  • Terraflow Energy
  • Think Energy Holdings
  • Turnover Labs
  • Utiltyx
  • Zenthos Energy

Find information about the full day of events here, or click here to register.

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