Kyoto University group demonstrates hydrogen from 170°C steam with a MOF glass membrane

Why it matters: Research leaders in hydrogen and materials chemistry should note work targeting 150–250°C electrolysis, a window the university says has lacked stable proton-conducting membranes.

Kyoto University said a research group including Professor Satoshi Horike of the Graduate School of Science and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Hiromitsu Uehara made a membrane from metal–organic framework (MOF) glass, a material built from metal ions and organic molecules.

According to the university, the group applied the window-glass concept of adding modifier components, showed that the membrane passes protons over a wide temperature range, and succeeded in electrolysing 170°C steam to produce hydrogen.

The university said alkaline water electrolysis, the main renewable-powered method, operates at 100°C or below, and that almost no membrane materials could stably conduct protons in the 150–250°C range where factory steam and waste heat are easier to use.

Uehara's post sits within an industry–academia joint chair with Mitsui Kinzoku, and the study was published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on 21 October 2026.

SJ

Editor’s view

Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor

The university frames this as a step rather than a finished technology: it reports a successful steam electrolysis at 170°C and says use in green hydrogen production that exploits waste heat instead of fossil fuels is expected, not achieved. For research leaders and industrial partners in hydrogen, the significance lies in the target temperature window, which the university describes as better suited to factory steam and waste heat yet short of membranes that reliably pass protons.