Researchers develop nonprecious earth material-based catalyst for mass production of green hydrogen

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SEOUL -- Researchers from a South Korean national university have developed a catalyst using non-precious metal materials. The nanostructural catalyst can be used for the mass production of green hydrogen. Because the catalyst is not made from precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, it is cheaper than conventional catalysts.

While ordinary hydrogen production requires fossil fuel to separate hydrogen from other gaseous or liquid materials such as ammonia, green hydrogen is more environmentally-friendly because it is created using an electrolysis technique to separate hydrogen from water. If renewable energy is used for the separation, the production process becomes completely carbon-zero.

Jeonbuk National University said in a statement on March 11 that its research team developed a production technique for a nano-multi-dimensional structure-shaped catalyst using iron and tin. The newly-developed catalyst showed an electric current density of overpotential of about 1.490 V (@ 10 mA cm-2), lower than that of conventional catalysts' overpotential of about 1.545 V (@ 10 mA cm-2). Catalysts with lower overpotential rates are more efficient.

Researchers said that the new catalyst is more stable than conventional products made with gold or platinum. According to Jeonbuk National University, the new catalyst is ready for commercialization. "This research has a great meaning in the field of hydrogen production because the new catalyst is cheap and highly effective while the conventional production method is very expensive," the university said.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Researchers develop nonprecious earth material-based catalyst for mass production of green hydrogen

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