New technology gathers energy from polluted air

The scientists explain that they use a device no bigger than a hand. "Air is purified on one side, while on the other side hydrogen gas is produced from a part of the degradation products. This hydrogen gas can be stored and used later as fuel, as is already being done in some hydrogen buses, for example," professor Sammy Verbruggen explains.

Their ultimate goal is to use techniques similar to those found in solar panels with the only difference that electricity is not generated directly, but stored as hydrogen gas.

"We are currently working on a scale of only a few square centimeters. At a later stage, we would like to scale up our technology to make the process industrially applicable. We are also working on improving our materials so we can use sunlight more efficiently to trigger the reactions."