Cutting-edge Hydrogen Production: Less Precious Metals, More Efficiency

In a significant advancement towards sustainable energy, a team of researchers at the University of Twente, led by Dr. Marco Altomare, has successfully demonstrated a novel method to decrease the reliance on precious metals like platinum in green hydrogen production while maintaining performance levels.

The global imperative to shift towards sustainable energy sources in order to combat climate change and address the energy crisis is more pressing than ever. Green hydrogen stands out as a crucial component in this transition, and the establishment of a large-scale hydrogen economy necessitates the development of efficient, compact, and robust technologies.

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysers and fuel cells currently utilize precious metal catalysts, including platinum and iridium, to optimize the efficiency of hydrogen production and conversion processes. However, the high cost and limited availability of these catalysts pose significant barriers to the widespread adoption of hydrogen technologies. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set ambitious targets to achieve performances that are 5-10 times higher than current levels by 2026, while using less than 20% of the current amount of these metals (approximately 3 mg/cm2 as total loading of platinum and iridium) – a formidable scientific and technological challenge.

By focusing on platinum as a model catalyst, Dr. Marco Altomare's team, in collaboration with partners from Erlangen (Germany) and Pavia (Italy), employed a combination of physical vapor deposition (PVD) and controlled thermal treatments, known as solid-state dewetting, to produce electrodes that are both highly active and durable, while significantly reducing the quantity of precious metals used. "Based on our initial laboratory experiments, our approach has the potential to decrease the required amount of precious catalyst by a factor of five, all while maintaining efficient hydrogen generation," highlights Shreyas Harsha, the PhD researcher leading the project.

Dr. Marco Altomare further explains, "Our method is entirely chemical-free, making it safer and eliminating the waste of precious catalyst precursor. Moreover, it is scalable – similar thin film deposition techniques are already employed on a large scale in various industrial applications, and our facilities at the University of Twente are equipped to coat catalyst layers on surfaces measuring up to several hundred square centimeters."