Water electrolysis is an easy way of producing hydrogen gas. While hydrogen is considered a clean, renewable fuel, efficient electrolysis requires high electric potential, high pH and in most cases, catalysts based on ruthenium and other expensive metals.

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As detailed in an article in The Journal of the American Chemical Society and reported on the university's website, Technion researchers have developed a unique system for producing hydrogen from water using little energy and inexpensive materials. Led by Professor Galia Maayan, head of the Biomimetic Chemistry Laboratory at the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, along with doctoral student Guilin Ruan, this is the fastest system of its kind reported to date that uses available copper catalysts.

Maayan and Ruan designed and developed a system in which the catalyst is soluble in water. The system is based on three elements: copper ions; a peptide-like oligomer (small molecule) that binds the copper and maintains its stability; and a compound called borate whose function is to maintain the pH in a limited range.

The major innovation in this work is the researchers' discovery that the borate compound helps stabilize the metallic center and helps catalyze it.

Maayan explained that the inspiration for the new system came from enzymes (biological catalysts) that use the protein's peptide chain to stabilize the metallic center and by natural energetic processes such as photosynthesis, which are driven by units that use solar energy to transport electrons and protons.

The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) and the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program.

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Israel's young chemistry whizzes competed against 240 youths from 60 nations, including Iran and Syria. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year's IChO was held via Zoom.

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Roi Peer, 18, of Gan Haim scored a total of 90.35, qualifying him for the gold medal. Peer finished 26^th in the competition rankings.

Prior to the competition, Peer said, "Last year, I won a silver medal, and I won bronze the year before that. It's been a weird year because of coronavirus, mostly because the competition will take place on Zoom, and that kind of lowers your motivation."

After securing a gold medal, Peer said, "When they called my name, it was exciting. After three years in the competition, I found that the work paid off."

Peer's teammates Ron Shprints and Bar Sheffer both earned silver medals, with scores of 83.31 and 81.80, respectively.

Team member Ward Yahya of Taibe scored 62.05, earning a bronze medal.

The Education Ministry and the Maimonides Fund's Future Scientists Center oversaw the team's training. Education Minister Yoav Gallant congratulated the team, saying "We will support training for Israeli teams in scientific fields in 2021, as well."

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