The simplest member of the chemical family, hydrogen (H), is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, combustible gaseous substance. The nucleus of a hydrogen atom is made up of a proton, which has one unit of positive electrical charge, and an electron, which has one unit of negative electrical charge. Hydrogen gas is a loose collection of hydrogen molecules, each consisting of a pair of atoms, a diatomic molecule, H2, under normal conditions. The fact that hydrogen burns with oxygen to generate water, H2O, is the first known important chemical feature of hydrogen; indeed, the name hydrogen is taken from Greek words meaning "creator of water."
To reduce the overall cost of production, various businesses
are focused on developing better membranes and catalysts. Over the projection
period, this is expected to present prospective market possibilities.
Furthermore, manufacturers' changing focus to a technical scale of production,
such as the development of an overvoltage reduction of the oxygen evolution
reaction (OER) and high-pressure electrolyzers, is predicted to provide
attractive growth potential for the hydrogen
market.
There are three known isotopes of hydrogen. The mass numbers
of hydrogen isotopes are 1, 2, and 3, with the mass 1 isotope, commonly known
as protium (symbol H, or 1H), being the most frequent. The mass 2 isotope,
deuterium, or heavy hydrogen (symbol D, or 2H), has a nucleus of one proton and
one neutron and makes up 0.0156 per cent of the conventional hydrogen mixture.
The mass 3 isotope tritium (symbol T, or 3H) has one proton and two neutrons in
each nucleus and makes up around 1015 to 1016 per cent of hydrogen. The fact
that the hydrogen isotopes have significant variances in characteristics
justifies the practice of giving them different names.