Abstract
The ever-growing demand for electricity and clean water restricts widespread application of hydrogen production via water electrolysis or photocatalytic water splitting. Here, we present a self-sufficient electricity-free air-to-hydrogen system that integrates radiative cooling-enhanced water adsorption with synergistic photocatalysis and photothermal conversion by fabricating spectral selective absorbing/emitting hygroscopic hydrogen evolution nanofiber membranes to harvest atmospheric moisture and produce hydrogen. Leveraging the nocturnal radiative cooling effect, we expand the operational relative humidity range of nanofiber membranes and enhance both water collection capacity and kinetics. The collected water undergoes efficient gas-phase water splitting for H2 production during the day through photothermal catalytic processes without electrical and liquid water assistance. The hydrogen production rate of the scale-up air-to-H2 system under outdoor natural light reaches 6467.55 µmol·m-2·h-1. Extrapolating this experimentally validated rate to land-based deployment demonstrates the potential for large-scale hydrogen generation, with practical feasibility dependent on regional humidity and solar conditions. Thus, our approach cost-effectively addresses green-H2 scarcity without demanding natural freshwater and electricity, thereby providing an archetype for global sustainable development.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the financial support from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515110920 and 2024A1515012307), and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2024NSFSC1141).
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Conceptualization: S.W., Y.H.N. Methodology: Q.X., X.Y., H.Y.C., X.L., X.C.Z., Y.H.N., and S.W. Investigation: Q.X., X.Y., H.Y.C., X.L., Z.Z. (Zhi Z), Z.Z. (Zhenwen Z), W.K.L., Y.Z., X.C.Z., Y.H.N., and S.W. Visualization: Q.X., X.Y. Funding acquisition: Y.H.N., S.W. Project administration: Y.H.N., S.W. Supervision: X.C.Z., Y.H.N., and S.W. Writing—original draft: Q.X., X.Y., Y.H.N., and S.W. Writing—review & editing: Q.X., X.Y., X.C.Z., Y.H.N., and S.W.
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Xu, Q., Yao, X., Chung, H.Y. et al. Electricity-free hydrogen production from the air. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67511-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67511-z
