Low-temperature water-splitting by sodium redox reaction

Abstract Thermochemical water-splitting by sodium redox reactions was investigated from material science point of view as a future hydrogen production method. The reaction system consists of three separate reactions, which are hydrogen generation by NaOH-Na reaction, metal separation by thermolysis of Na 2 O, and oxygen generation by hydrolysis of Na 2 O 2 . Although the current techniques of thermochemical water-splitting required a temperature higher than 800 °C for whole reaction cycle, the sodium system was able to be operated below only 400 °C by using nonequilibrium techniques to control the entropy of the chemical reactions. Therefore, this system should be recognized as a potential water-splitting technique that can widely utilize any heat sources in contrast to the conventional methods.