Creating nanocatalysts to beat limitations of water electrolysis expertise

Inexperienced hydrogen may be produced via water electrolysis expertise, which makes use of renewable vitality to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen with out emitting carbon dioxide. Nonetheless, the manufacturing price of inexperienced hydrogen is at present round $5 per kilogram, which is 2 to 3 occasions larger than grey hydrogen obtained from pure gasoline.

For the sensible use of inexperienced hydrogen, innovation in water electrolysis expertise is required for the conclusion of hydrogen economic system, particularly for Korea the place the utilization of renewable vitality is proscribed owing to geographical causes.

Dr. Kyung Joong Yoon’s analysis crew on the Power Supplies Analysis Heart of the Korea Institute of Science and Know-how (KIST) has developed a nanocatalyst for high-temperature water electrolysis that may retain a excessive present density of greater than 1A/cm² for an extended time frame at temperatures above 600°. The work is printed within the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Whereas the degradation mechanisms of nanomaterials at excessive temperatures have been elusive to date, the crew recognized the basic causes of irregular habits of nanomateirals and efficiently resolved points, ultimately bettering efficiency and stability in reasonable water electrolysis cells.

The electrolysis expertise may be categorized into low- and high-temperature electrolysis. Whereas low-temperature electrolysis working at temperatures under 100° Celsius has lengthy been developed and is technologically extra mature, high-temperature electrolysis working above 600° Celsius presents larger effectivity and is taken into account as a next-generation expertise with a robust potential for additional cost-down.

Nonetheless, its commercialization has been hindered by the dearth of thermal stability and inadequate lifetime owing to high-temperature degradation, resembling corrosion and structural deformation. Specifically, nanocatalysts, that are extensively used to enhance the efficiency of low-temperature water electrolyzers, rapidly deteriorate at excessive working temperatures, making it tough to successfully use them for high-temperature water electrolysis.

To beat this limitation, the crew developed a brand new nanocatalyst artificial method that suppresses the formation of dangerous compounds inflicting excessive temperature degradation.

By systematically analyzing the nanoscale phenomena utilizing transmission electron microscopy, the researchers recognized particular substances inflicting extreme structural alterations, resembling strontium carbonate and cobalt oxide and efficiently eliminated them to realize extremely secure nanocatalysts, when it comes to chemical and bodily properties.

When the crew utilized the nanocatalyst to a high-temperature water electrolysis cell, it greater than doubled hydrogen manufacturing price and operated for greater than 400 hours at 650° with out degradation. This system was additionally efficiently utilized to a sensible large-area water electrolysis cell, confirming its sturdy potential for scale-up and business use.

“Our newly-developed nanomaterials achieved each excessive efficiency and stability for high-temperature water electrolysis expertise, and it could actually contribute to decrease the manufacturing price of inexperienced hydrogen, making it economically aggressive with grey hydrogen sooner or later,” stated Dr. Kyungjoong Yoon of KIST.

“For commercialization, we plan to develop automated processing methods for mass manufacturing in cooperation with business cell producers.”