Creating nanocatalysts to beat limitations of water electrolysis know-how

Dec 28, 2023

(Nanowerk Information) Inexperienced hydrogen may be produced by way of water electrolysis know-how, 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 presently round $5 per kilogram, which is 2 to a few occasions greater than grey hydrogen obtained from pure fuel. For the sensible use of inexperienced hydroten, the innovation in water electrolysis know-how is required for the belief of hydrogen economic system, particularly for Korea the place the utilization of renewable vitality is restricted owing to geographical causes.

Key Takeaways

Revolutionary nanocatalyst considerably improves high-temperature water electrolysis for hydrogen manufacturing.

Enhanced know-how greater than doubles hydrogen output and operates successfully at 650 levels Celsius.

The brand new technique presents better effectivity and stability, addressing earlier limitations in high-temperature electrolysis.

Potential to cut back inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing prices, making it aggressive with conventional strategies.

Progress marks a big step in the direction of the commercialization of inexperienced hydrogen vitality.

The Analysis

Dr. Kyung Joong Yoon’s analysis crew on the Power Supplies Analysis Middle 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 a very long time at temperatures above 600 levels. Whereas the degradation mechanisms of nanomaterials at excessive temperatures have been elusive to this point, the crew recognized the elemental causes of irregular habits of nanomateirals and efficiently resolved points, finally bettering efficiency and stability in life like water electrolysis cells.
The crew reported their findings in Chemical Engineering Journal (“In situ synthesis of extraordinarily small, thermally steady perovskite nanocatalysts for high-temperature electrochemical vitality gadgets”). The electrolysis know-how may be categorized into low- and high-temperature electrolysis. Whereas low-temperature electrolysis working at temperatures under 100 levels Celsius has lengthy been developed and is technologically extra mature, high-temperature electrolysis working above 600 levels Celsius presents greater effectivity and is taken into account as a next-generation know-how with a robust potential for additional cost-down. Nonetheless, its commercialization has been hindered by the shortage of thermal stability and inadequate lifetime owing to high-temperature degradation, equivalent to corrosion and structural deformation. Specifically, nanocatalysts, that are broadly 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 methods 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, equivalent to strontium carbonate and cobalt oxide and efficiently eliminated them to realize extremely steady 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 charge and operated for greater than 400 hours at 650 levels with out degradation. This system was additionally sucessfully 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 ans stability for high-temperature water electrolysis know-how, and it could possibly 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.”