Domestic research team has successfully developed domestic first water electrolysis stack demonstration technology that advances anion exchange membrane water electrolysis technology, which produces green hydrogen without using expensive precious metals, to a commercializable level.

The research team led by Dr. Choi Seung-mok at the Energy & Electronic Materials Research Division of Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, Director Lee Jung-hwan), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, announced on the 17th that it has developed full-cycle integrated technology spanning from non-precious metal catalyst development to large-area electrodes and demonstration water electrolysis stack technology.

Hydrogen is drawing attention as a representative clean energy source replacing fossil fuels for achieving '2050 Carbon Neutrality,' and water electrolysis technology for producing hydrogen without emitting greenhouse gases is being actively developed worldwide. Among water electrolysis technologies suitable for green hydrogen production, anion exchange membrane water electrolysis is a next-generation water electrolysis technology capable of safely producing high-purity hydrogen at low cost using non-precious metal catalysts.

To complete a high-efficiency water electrolysis system, development of stack-customized high-activity catalysts is essential. To date, many catalysts with excellent performance have been developed, but verification of actual commercializable stack performance beyond catalyst-level performance verification is absolutely required. Until now, there have been limitations in mass production of catalysts, complex electrode fabrication processes, and system research.

The research team proposed a method to secure both hydrogen generation activity and durability by partially varying the oxidation state of inexpensive nickel and cobalt catalyst nanoparticles. The team successfully demonstrated this by confirming it in a hydrogen generation system.

By partially controlling the oxidation state, the research team concentrated the adsorption reaction of hydroxide ions (OH-) that reduces hydrogen generation activity on the oxide. Through this approach, the team improved the performance of the active metal catalyst and simultaneously suppressed metal ion dissolution, thereby securing both activity and durability. This goes beyond simply developing a hydrogen generation catalyst with secured performance and durability, confirming for the first time domestically that it can be applied and implemented in a commercializable large-area stack, thereby enhancing practical applicability.

Senior Researcher Yang Ju-chan of the research team stated, "Through water electrolysis stack demonstration, it is expected that the commercialization timeline for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis can be advanced," and added, "Based on these results, we were selected for the 2021 Rural Development Administration Agricultural Science and Technology Research and Development Project (Project title: Research on Water Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Technology Using Waste Nutrient Solution Linked with Renewable Energy)."

Director Lee Jung-hwan of Korea Institute of Materials Science stated, "The Institute has recently established the 'Carbon Neutrality Materials Technology Research Planning Division' as an organization to plan, discover, and conduct research projects on full-cycle materials technology related to hydrogen energy, leading the way in realizing carbon neutrality in materials technology," and added, "This research result is significant in that it can greatly contribute to the government's early establishment of a hydrogen ecosystem."

This research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT's Hydrogen Energy Innovation Technology Development Project and major projects of Korea Institute of Materials Science. The research results were published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, an ELSEVIER international journal in the top 1% of environmental fields, on March 26.

The research team is currently conducting commercialization research based on this research result to apply anion exchange membrane water electrolysis stacks to systems.