Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras

An Electrolyzer System with Nonprecious Electrocatalysts for Green Hydrogen Production by Electrolysis of Water

Technology Category/Market

Sustainable Energy and Material Science:  Green Hydrogen Production, Hydrogen Electrolyzer

Applications: Renewable Green Hydrogen Production

Market: The global green Hydrogen market was valued at USD 676 million in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 7,314 million by 2027, growing at a CARG of 61.0% during the forecast period.

Targeted Industries

Watermarking IP design,

Electronic circuits

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Problem Statement

  • In the present era, the cost-effective production of hydrogen (H2) is the vital research area, wherein clean water splitting driven by electricity or solar power is one of the most promising approaches.
  • Further, using of clean Aqua water is costlier and resources are limited.
  • In this instant, the clean water can be replaced by natural resource water like sea water with or without treatment for the process of production of H2.
  • One of the major issues cause while using of real sea water during electrolysis process is that said water contains several salts, and that form participates on the cathode surface, which obstructs to reach the benchmark of current density.
  • Thus, there is need for an electrolyzer system & framework to overcome above issues.

Technology

Electrocatalyst development:

  • Anode Catalyst layer is designed by using a framework type structure i.e Cobalt hexacyanoferrate (Co-FePBA) mixed with nitrogen doped carbon nanotube (NCNT) and heated at different temperatures (300-400oC) to obtain Co-FePBA/NCNT composite.
  • Cathode Catalyst layer is designed by Metallic nickel particles encapsulated inside nitrogen-doped carbon tubules (Ni/NCT).
  • Carbon based substrate is used as catalyst support instead costly metallic foam.
  • In present electrolyzer system, the KOH treated sea water is used as an electrolyte for testing purpose. Further, the ground water or salty ground water may be used as electrolyte as discussed in the Patent.
  • Design Framework: The electrolyzer system comprises an anode catalyst layer, a cathode catalyst layer and a catalytic support for the anode catalyst layer and cathode catalyst layer.
  • Problem Solution: Best anode-cathode assembly of the present invention shows overall water splitting voltage of 1.88V in 1M KOH treated seawater with a benchmark current density of 10mA/cm2 required for a 12.8% efficiency solar cell driven electrolyzer.

Key Features/Value Proposition

Industrial Perspective:

  • The present electrolyzer system is feasible to produce green hydrogen from the natural resource of water i.e., Treated Seawater, Ground Water, Salty Ground Water.

Technical Perspective:

  • The deployment method of the present electrolyzer system is non-precious, cost effective and straightforward synthesis of cathode and anode catalysis of sea water electrolysis for efficient H2 production.
Questions about this Technology?

Contact for Licensing

Research Lab

Prof. S Ramaprabhu

Department of Physics

Intellectual Property

  • IITM IDF Ref: 2319

  • IN Patent No. 419116 (Granted)

Technology Readiness Level

TRL- 3/4

Proof of Concept Ready & tested and validated in Laboratory stage.  

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