A Spontaneous Heavy Hydrogen Generator via a Protium Redox

Abstract

The extreme significance of heavy hydrogen (D2) in medicinal, nuclear, and chemical sectors, despite its scarce natural abundance, underscores the vital imperative for inventing novel chemistries for its production. We showcase a spontaneous heavy hydrogen generator during commensurate electrical energy production by decoupling the direct chemistry of OD–/D+ dual ions via a protium redox. This exergonic electrochemistry yields ∼357 mL of D2 in nearly 85 h of continuous operation, with a commensurate electrical energy output of 122 kJ/per mole of D2. This laboratory-level demonstration of spontaneous heavy hydrogen production presents a novel chemistry for the scalable manufacture of nonprimordial D2.