A joint research team from the Korea Institute of Materials Science and Technology and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has developed an electrochemical system that simultaneously produces hydrogen and formate using waste glycerol. The team announced on the 14th that they have implemented an anion exchange membrane electrolysis system that applies the glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) instead of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of the existing water electrolysis process.

This research was jointly conducted by the research team led by Principal Researcher Yang Ju-chan of the Korea Institute of Materials Science and the research team led by Professors Jang Ji-wook, Lim Han-kwon, and Lee Ho-sik of UNIST. The research results were published in the international journal Joule on March 18.

Conventional water-based electrolysis had limitations, such as a high energy burden and slow reaction speed due to the oxygen evolution reaction at the anode. The research team altered the reaction pathway by introducing glycerol, a biodiesel byproduct, into this section. The structure produces hydrogen while simultaneously obtaining formate.

The research team announced that they achieved a current density of 110 mA/cm² at 1.31 V by applying a copper-cobalt oxide-based non-precious metal catalyst. They explained that the formate selectivity of the product was approximately 96%, and stable performance was confirmed even in a large-area electrolytic cell of 79 cm².

This result is significant in that it expands the water electrolysis process, which previously produced only hydrogen, into a process that produces both hydrogen and chemical raw materials. However, further verification is required for actual industrial application, including continuous process operation, the use of actual waste glycerol as a raw material, long-term durability, and separation and purification costs.