Development of two-dimensional transition metal compound based efficient electrocatalyst for green H2 production

The rapid progress in intermittent solar, wind technologies has created an urgent need to develop parallel technologies of storing energy in forms that are suitable for on-site applications as well as long distance transmission.

The present method of storing the surplus energy in batteries is not a viable solution in the long run, owing to the limited reserves and toxicity of battery materials. In such a scenario, storing the obtained energy in the form of H2 fuel is a fairly attractive strategy.

Alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE) have been a key technology for large-scale hydrogen production and are capable of generating energy in MW range.

Alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE) still requires technological make-over to reach the desired efficiency of about 90 % from the current 70 %.

On the other hand, counterpart technology of proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer is highly efficient, but its investment cost and low lifetime limits commercialization. The investment cost of AWE today is around 1000-1200 $/kW, and PEM is 1700-2500 $/kW. In addition, the lifetime of AWE is higher and the annual maintenance costs are lower compared to PEM.

Although AWE has an economic advantage over PEM, integrating AWE with an intermittent energy source of solar and wind power requires a major advancement in the design to be used in dynamic operating conditions.

The key objective of this research is to develop a multipurpose low-cost water electrolyzer for H2 production by electrolysis of alkaline-water with special focus on seawater (alkaline) water to store intermittent energy sources (solar and wind) in form of clean fuel.

Unfortunately, there are no commercial electrolyzer that run on seawater, owing to the associated research and technical challenges of high activity, OER selectivity, stability, and low cost.

The present project aims to develop AWE stacks for H2 production employing efficient, cost-effective two-dimensional transition metal compounds (2D-TMC).