November 25, 2022 Researchers create green fuel with the flip of a light switch Researchers at Princeton and Rice universities have combined iron, copper, and a simple LED light to demonstrate a low-cost technique that could be key to distributing hydrogen, a fuel that packs high amounts of energy with no carbon pollution.The researchers used experiments and advanced computation to develop a technique using nanotechnology to split hydrogen from liquid ammonia, a process that until now has been expensive and energy intensive.In an article published online Nov. 24 in the journal Science, the researchers describe how they used light from a standard LED to crack the ammonia without the need for high temperatures or expensive elements typically demanded by such chemistry.To investigate how these variables affected the reaction, the researchers worked with principal author Carter, who specializes in detailed investigations of reactions at the molecular level.By fine-turning the process, while utilizing the atomic-scale understanding Carter and her team provided, the Rice team was able to consistently extract hydrogen from ammonia using only light from energy-efficient LEDs at room temperature with no additional heating."