ELECTROHYPEM

Enhanced performance and cost-effective materials for long-term operation of PEM water electrolysers coupled to renewable power sources

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The overall objective of the ELECTROHYPEM project is to develop cost-effective components for proton conducting membrane electrolysers with enhanced activity and stability in order to reduce stack and system costs and to improve efficiency, performance and durability. The focus of the project is concerning mainly with low-cost electrocatalysts and membrane development. The project is addressing the validation of these materials in a PEM electrolyser (1 Nm3 H2/h) for residential applications in the presence of renewable power sources. The aim is to contribute to the road-map addressing the achievement of a wide scale decentralised hydrogen production infrastructure. Polymer electrolytes developed in the project concern with novel chemically stabilised ionomers and sulphonated PBI or polysulfone hydrocarbon membranes, as well as their composites with inorganic fillers, characterised by high conductivity and better resistance than conventional Nafion membranes to H2-O2 cross-over and mechanical degradation under high pressure operation. Low noble-metal loading nanosized mixed-oxides (IrRuMOx) oxygen evolution electrocatalysts, highly dispersed on high surface area conductive doped-oxide (TiNbOx, TiTaOx, SnSbOx) or sub-oxides (Ti4O7-like ) will be developed together with novel supported non-precious oxygen evolution electrocatalysts prepared by electrospinning. After appropriate screening of active materials (supports, catalyst, membranes, ionomers) and non-active stack hardware (bipolar plates, coatings) in single cell and short stack, these components will be validated in a PEM electrolyser prototype operating at high pressure in a wide temperature range. The stack will be integrated in a system and assessed in terms of durability under steady-state operating conditions as well as in the presence of current profiles simulating intermittent conditions.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Using renewable energy sources (RESs) like wind power to provide the electricity for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen could facilitate sustainable and efficient energy production with smaller-scale installations suitable for homes.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Meeting the world's energy demand in a sustainable way that minimises both dependence on the volatile fossil fuel market and its associated emissions concerns is a key challenge of the 21st century. In order to effectively make use of the overcapacities in electricity production from RESs to electrolyse water and produce high-purity hydrogen, challenges in cost, performance, stability and efficiency of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells must be addressed.

Electrochemical water splitting is associated with substantial energy loss and expensive materials. Scientists initiated the EU-funded project http://www.electrohypem.eu/ (ELECTROHYPEM) (Enhanced performance and cost-effective materials for long-term operation of PEM water electrolysers coupled to renewable power sources) to support widespread residential applications and a decentralised hydrogen production infrastructure. The focus of the project is on low-cost electrocatalysts, low-noble-metal-loading electrodes and robust membrane development.

The team has developed a number of PEMs. Novel extruded and reinforced membranes incorporated the short-side-chain with perfluorinated ionomer Aquivion perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA). Sulfonated hydrocarbon membranes were also produced as a low-cost alternative to PFSAs. All membranes met or exceeded proton conductivity targets.

Scientists are also developing novel electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER, respectively). The HER catalysts met project target performance and the OER catalysts demonstrated a 60 % improvement in their targeted performance.

Membrane-electrode assemblies made with the new catalysts and membranes demonstrated performance that met or exceeded objectives. In preparation for final demonstration and validation, the team identified stack architectures and carried out a characterisation of a water electrolysis system. Two prototype micro-wind turbines were selected for the RES-PEM electrolyser coupling evaluation.

ELECTROHYPEM is addressing all the current barriers to widespread commercial use of systems coupling RESs to water electrolysis for hydrogen production. The novel membranes and electrocatalysts are expected to significantly enhance performance and durability while decreasing costs. The progress so far has been highlighted in eight publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as at international conferences and through the project website.