The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, President Choi Cheol-jin), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, has developed a commercially viable one-step electrode provision process technology for the first time in Korea, taking a big step toward domestic production of anion exchange membrane electrolysis.

The Korea Materials Research Institute announced on the 19th that Dr. Seung-Mok Choi's research team has developed a one-step electrode manufacturing process that can produce electrodes, a core component of anion exchange membrane electrolysis, from raw materials to a mass-producible level for the first time in Korea, and has succeeded in applying it to a commercial-level anion exchange membrane electrolysis stack.

This technology is a one-step hot pressing process that converts the raw material cobalt hydroxide into the catalyst cobalt oxide while simultaneously forming a highly uniform catalyst layer.

The complex process steps of the existing process (hydroxide-oxide-grinding-dispersion-coating-drying) were replaced with a single coating.

This is a result of simplifying the process by 60% compared to the existing process, while also enabling the formation of a uniform catalyst layer.

In addition, it was confirmed that the hydrogen generation efficiency and the performance decrease rate during continuous operation were significantly improved.

To optimize the one-step electrode manufacturing process, the research team carefully controlled the slurry conditions of cobalt (Co) hydroxide and the key factors of the hot pressing process, temperature and pressure, thereby successfully manufacturing a catalyst layer composed of uniform oxide particles measuring 10 nanometers in size. />
In addition, the developed electrode was used to manufacture a membrane electrode assembly using an anion exchange membrane and a hydrogen generation catalyst, and its stability and performance were confirmed in a commercial-level water electrolysis cell.

The research team demonstrated that by applying the developed electrode to an anion exchange membrane electrolysis system, it is possible to develop a stable anion exchange membrane electrolysis system with high hydrogen generation efficiency (hydrogen generation efficiency of approximately 80 percent based on low calorific value) and low performance degradation rate (performance degradation rate of 2 millivolts/kilowhr for 1,000 hours of continuous operation).

Green hydrogen production through electrolysis is expected to reach 11 million tons and 69 gigawatts of capacity by 2030.

In Korea, technology development for demonstration of a MW-class anion exchange membrane electrolysis system is being promoted in 2024, and commercialization of a MW-class electrolysis system is being promoted with a target of 2030.

The level of domestic anion exchange membrane electrolysis technology is about 70-80% of that of advanced countries, so significant investment in the related field is required, and securing core source technologies and localizing technologies are urgent.

Through the development of this technology, it is expected that by securing the original technology for a mass-producible electrode manufacturing process, it will be possible to secure a global edge in related technologies, localize electrolysis technology, and create and preempt overseas electrolysis markets.

“We have developed a one-step hot pressing electrode manufacturing process with high process reliability, thereby solving one of the challenges in commercializing anion exchange membrane electrolysis,” said Choi Seung-mok, a principal researcher at the Materials Research Institute (Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UST), who is the principal investigator of the research. “If this technology is applied, we expect that mass production of anion exchange membrane electrolysis will become possible, which will significantly reduce the unit cost.”

This research was conducted with the support of the National Research Foundation of Korea's mid-career researcher support project, the National Strategic Technology Material Development for Nano and Material Technology Development (R&D), and the basic project of the Korea Institute of Materials Science..

In addition, the research results were accepted for publication in the June 5 issue of Applied Energy (1st author: Myung Shin-woo, Ph.D. candidate (Material Research Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), Jeong Jae-hoon, Technology Innovation Center (Material Research Institute)). The research team is conducting follow-up research for commercializing AEM electrolysis, such as increasing hydrogen production through increasing current density, improving lifespan, developing mass production technology for materials and parts processes, and developing stack operation technology.