Innovative Low-Cost Catalyst Enhances the Efficiency of Renewable Energy Storage

A groundbreaking catalyst that employs individual platinum atoms has been developed by City University Hong Kong, and subsequently validated by Imperial College London. This innovation holds the potential to significantly streamline and make more affordable the storage of hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources. By dispersing singular platinum atoms onto a layer of molybdenum sulfide, the catalyst not only minimizes the need for platinum but also optimizes the efficiency of the electrolysis process.

The catalyst was engineered by a research team from City University Hong Kong (CityU) and rigorously evaluated by their counterparts at Imperial College London, offering the possibility for cost-effective mass production.

According to Professor Anthony Kucernak from Imperial College London’s Department of Chemistry: “To realize the UK’s Hydrogen Strategy ambition of achieving 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, enhancing the production of cost-effective, easily manufacturable, and efficient hydrogen storage is critical. This new electrocatalyst can significantly contribute to this endeavor, aiding the UK in reaching its net-zero objectives by 2050.”

Renewable energy production, harnessing resources like wind and solar power, is on the ascent. Nonetheless, a portion of this energy must be stored for utilization during periods of adverse weather conditions, inhibiting solar and wind energy production. Storing this energy in the form of hydrogen offers a viable solution, as hydrogen can be saved and later distributed for subsequent use.

To facilitate this, the harvested renewable energy undergoes a process to break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The stored energy resides within these hydrogen atoms. The operation relies on platinum catalysts to instigate the reaction known as electrolysis. Although platinum serves as a highly effective catalyst, its scarcity and high cost necessitate its minimized usage to reduce overall system expenses and constrain platinum extraction.

In a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature, the researchers have configured and evaluated a catalyst designed to use a minimal amount of platinum. This design provides a cost-efficient yet highly effective framework for the water-splitting process.

Lead researcher, Professor Zhang Hua from CityU, stated: “Electrocatalytic water splitting to generate hydrogen is seen as one of the most promising avenues for supplanting fossil fuels in the near future, thus mitigating environmental degradation and the greenhouse effect.”

Testing Procedures

The team’s groundbreaking approach involved spreading individual atoms of platinum over a molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) sheet. This strategy utilized substantially less platinum compared to conventional catalysts while also enhancing the catalyst’s performance due to synergistic effects between platinum and molybdenum.

Advanced characterization techniques were employed in Professor Kucernak’s lab at Imperial College, where specialized tools for precise evaluation have been developed. The Imperial researchers have formulated several technologies designed to leverage such catalysts and have even founded companies like RFC Power, which focuses on hydrogen flow batteries that could benefit from the newly developed catalyst.

Utilization of Hydrogen

Once the stored renewable energy in the form of hydrogen is needed as electricity, it undergoes conversion via fuel cells, yielding water vapor as a by-product. Recently, a single-atom catalyst based on iron, rather than platinum, was revealed by Professor Kucernak and his team, further reducing the costs of this conversion technology.

Bramble Energy, another company established under the guidance of Professor Kucernak, will be conducting tests on this iron-based catalyst technology in their fuel cells. Both of these cutting-edge, single-atom catalysts, one for transforming renewable energy into hydrogen storage and the other for releasing that energy as electricity, could bring the vision of a hydrogen economy within closer reach.

Reference Information

The study, titled “Phase-dependent growth of Pt on MoS2 for highly efficient H2 evolution,” authored by a multi-disciplinary team, was published in Nature on 13 September 2023 with the DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-06339-3.

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More about Renewable Energy Storage Catalyst

• City University Hong Kong Research Department
• Imperial College London Chemistry Department
• UK Hydrogen Strategy
• Nature Journal
• RFC Power
• Bramble Energy
• Electrolysis Explained
• Global Hydrogen Economy
• Platinum in Catalysts
• DOI Reference for the Study