A Hydrogen Future Could be the Answer to Clean Energy

With global energy demand set to grow by about 47% over the next 30 years, the need for a sustainable energy transition has never been higher. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and can therefore become the perfect fuel for the future. 

Hydrogen fuel has the potential to transform multiple industries by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, providing a clean energy source, and enabling long-term energy storage. However, to make hydrogen fuel a truly sustainable solution, it must be produced efficiently and cost-effectively.

Hydrogen Future Key Takeaways

In this guide you’ll learn:

• Hydrogen fuel is a critical component of the clean energy transition.
• Advancements in green hydrogen production, fuel cell efficiency, and storage technologies are making hydrogen fuel more viable.
• Australia is at the forefront of hydrogen fuel innovation, with research institutions and companies driving significant breakthroughs.
• Precise measurement and optimisation of catalytic materials play a crucial role in improving hydrogen fuel cell performance.

What is hydrogen fuel exactly? 

Hydrogen fuel is a clean energy carrier that can be used for power generation, transportation, and industrial applications. Unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen can be burned or used in fuel cells with only water vapour as a byproduct, making it an ideal solution for reducing carbon emissions.

Normally the process of generating hydrogen requires electrical energy and if this energy comes from fossil fuels, emissions are be generated, which is not favourable. Alternatively Green hydrogen uses renewable energy to power the electrolyser that produces hydrogen from water.

Thus, if green hydrogen has to become the fuel of tomorrow, a technological breakthrough in terms of both efficiency as well as cost reduction is essential. The main cost of hydrogen fuel cells comes from expensive catalysts like platinum. 

To ensure maximum performance using the least amount of catalyst possible, it is important to carefully formulate catalytic inks for fuel cells and other applications. One key to maximising performance is the characterisation, optimisation, and control of the catalytic powder during synthesis when received, and during dispersion.

Australian Hydrogen Production as a Future Global Leader

Australia has an ambition to be a global hydrogen leader. Alongside renewable electricity, hydrogen will play a significant role in decarbonising our economy. 

The Australian government has awarded funding to multiple research projects to propel innovation in exporting renewable hydrogen to the world. Funding has been offered to research teams from nine Australian universities and research organisations. These include:  

• Australian National University
• Macquarie University
• Monash University
• Queensland University of Technology
• RMIT University 
• The University of Melbourne
• University of New South Wales
• The University of Western Australia 
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

https://arena.gov.au/news/boosting-research-into-exporting-renewable-hydrogen/

RMIT University

The Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Laboratory (SHEL) leads efforts in hydrogen production, storage, and fuel cell technologies. Key research areas include developing novel methods for hydrogen production, such as direct seawater electrolysis, and exploring efficient storage solutions. 

Notably, RMIT researchers have pioneered a technique using sound waves to enhance green hydrogen production by 14 times, offering a promising approach to affordable and sustainable hydrogen fuel. 

Hydrogen is extracted from water using sound waves which eliminates the need for corrosive electrolytes and expensive electrodes like Platinum and Iridium. 

Sound waves also prevent the build-up of hydrogen and oxygen bubbles on the electrodes, which greatly improves its conductivity and stability.

UNSW

Fuel cell is a cornerstone technology for the success of Australia’s hydrogen economy, but its scalability has been stagnant for decades because of its high cost and reliance on platinum or iridium materials. 

Researchers at UNSW are working to unlock the potential of non-precious metal catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells using an interdisciplinary approach. Highly porous, multi-site single atom catalysts will be developed to block the degradation pathways, and integrated into a novel low-water retention membrane electrode assembly. 

The expected outcomes include new materials development, new cell design and a robust platinum-free hydrogen fuel cell prototype. The project will provide significant benefits to Australia in developing revolutionary hydrogen technologies.

CSIRO

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has successfully demonstrated affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonise heavy industry after trialling its hydrogen production technology at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in NSW.  

Unlike conventional hydrogen electrolysers, which rely heavily on electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, CSIRO’s advanced tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) technology uses both waste heat (for example, steam from the steelworks) and electricity to produce hydrogen with greater efficiency.  CSIRO spinout Hadean Energy has licensed CSIRO’s SOE technology and is on a mission to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.  

RUX Energy 

RUX Energy is an advanced materials company delivering breakthrough improvements in hydrogen storage and distribution. The company manufactures patented nanoporous materials and bulk hydrogen storage systems to improve the safety, storage density and cost of hydrogen storage and distribution, making green hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil fuels.

Their Micromeritics ASAP system is providing key insight into hydrogen adsorption capacity. It enables the team to conduct quick high throughput gas sorption analysis, with the capacity to degas 12 samples and run 6 samples at once on the one instrument. 

Hysata 

Hysata based in Port Kembla NSW, is an Australian manufacturer of high efficiency electrolysers developed by a team of researchers at University of Wollongong.  This green energy start up is helping to lower costs of clean hydrogen and leading the shift away from fossil fuels to power Australian heavy industry.  Hysata has developed a ‘capillary-fed’ electrolyser that splits water into Hydrogen and oxygen. In traditional designs, gas bubbles crowd the electrode, and reduce the electrolyser efficiency. Hysata’s design uses a sponge membrane to achieve direct delivery of water to electrodes and eliminates bubble formation.

Advances in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology with electrolysers

What are electrolysers?

An electrolyser is a device that produces hydrogen through a chemical process (electrolysis) capable of separating the hydrogen and oxygen molecules from water using electricity. Hydrogen produced in this sustainable way, i.e. without emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Production of electrolyser and fuel cells involves carbon supported catalyst powder, which is turned into catalytic ink and coated on a proton exchange polymer membrane. Catalytic powder contains nano-sized metal catalysts embedded in porous carbon matrix. 

Catalytic ink has a complex formulation containing Pt catalyst supported on carbon black bound by the ionomer with a range of particles and their aggregates. Some alloys, such as platinum-cobalt (PtCo), are being studied with the aim of reducing their costs by lowering the amount of precious metal required to produce fuel cells. 

Particle size, particle shape, surface area and porosity in the powder and ink plays an important role in the quality of catalyst coating in terms of homogeneity, porosity and packing density. This is another important parameter for slurry stability in terms of particle agglomeration/ sedimentation, and the amount of metal catalyst loading in the powder, ink, and coated membrane.

Optimising performance of hydrogen catalysts

The catalyst’s activity and stability are the two key parameters that determine fuel cell performance. Activity is governed by the size, dispersion, and morphology of the Pt-metal group nanoparticles. 

Equally important are the structural, textural, and surface chemistry properties of the carbonaceous agglomerates during ink drying, upon deposition on the proton exchange membrane. 

The optimised pore structure of the C-support matrix can significantly reduce the amount of Pt needed, and the optimisation of its distribution and maximisation of the availability of the catalytic points for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen-oxidation reaction (HOR) in fuel cells reduces the overall cost of the process.

Advanced Measurement and Characterisation Techniques for Hydrogen Fuel Research

Catalytic activity and stability can be optimised by developing novel Pt-alloy cathode materials, controlling the particle size for maximum mass activity, controlling the inter-crystallite distance, or ensuring uniform dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on the carbonaceous support. 

Characterisation requires a range of different particle sizing techniques such as Laser Diffraction (LD) and Dynamic light scattering (DLS) to characterise particles in different size ranges.

The Zetasizer

The Zetasizer is a DLS system that can measure the size of Carbon Black in the catalytic ink. Patented Non-Invasive Back Scatter (NIBS) technology automatically adjusts the path length according to sample characteristics like opacity and concentration. 

Thus, highly concentrated, and opaque slurries like catalytic ink can be measured delivering accurate particle size across a range of concentrations and sizes whilst maintaining consistent results. 

Additionally, Zetasizer can measure zeta potential or the charge on particles. Highly charged particles will stay dispersed while low-charged particles tend to agglomerate. See our range of Zetasizer products to find out more about the advanced light scattering system. 

Mastersizer 3000+

Mastersizer 3000+ provides another way to measure the size of carbon particles particularly when agglomerates larger than 1 µm is present in the sample. 

Mastersizer 3000+ uses laser diffraction and is considered as industry benchmark for particle sizing due to its high accuracy, repeatability and reliability. Laser diffraction is fast, non-destructive, and suited for both laboratory and continuous in-line measurements.  

It  offers a wide measurement range, from 10 nm to 3500 µm, and is well suited to cover the coarse and fine agglomerates that may be present in a catalytic powder.  While measurement of powder particles in a dry dispersion is possible, it is more common to measure them dispersed in a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA).  See our range of Mastersizer products to learn more. 

Morphologi 4 

Morphologi 4 is an automated morphological image analysis system that can be used to analyse agglomerates of the C-support particles. The Morphologi 4 can image individual particles and produce a particle size distribution based on discrete particle counting within the size range of 1 to >1,000 µm.  

Particle imaging with the Morphologi 4 is advantageous because images of individual agglomerates can be retrieved, compared, and evaluated by parameters such as circularity, convexity, and roughness. The roughness of the agglomerates is important because it could affect the ease of dispersion in the ink and the formation of porosity during deposition and drying. Check our Morphologi range to find out more. 

Micromeritics ASAP 2020

Micromeritics ASAP 2020 is a flexible gas adsorption analyser capable of measuring the hydrogen adsorption capacity of powders and porous materials. It enables the hydrogen storage capacity of new materials to be quantified which is essential for predicting the performance in a fuel cell or hydrogen storage device. 

The ASAP 2020 software has been enhanced to address the needs of fuel cell and hydrogen storage researchers. This includes: 

• Absolute pressure dosing for non-condensing probe molecules like hydrogen.
• New isotherm reports that include the weight percent of hydrogen adsorbed and the Pressure Composition Isotherm that is frequently used by hydrogen storage researchers.
• Calculated Free-space options to reduce analysis time, improve precision, and minimise exposure to interfering gases like helium.

Sample Preparation

Proper sample preparation is key for accurate hydrogen adsorption analysis, which is a two-step process. 

First, samples should be degassed on the preparation port to remove moisture and stray gases like CO₂ that absorb strongly to many materials at ambient temperature and pressure. 

Second, the sample should be degassed thoroughly on the sample port. The standard ASAP 2020 sample tube (1/2-inch stem) with a seal frit is recommended for this type of analysis. 

An isothermal jacket is recommended if the analysis is conducted at cryogenic temperatures (liquid nitrogen or liquid argon). A filler rod is optional but not recommended if the analysis is performed at cryogenic temperatures; the filler rod may interfere with the precision of low-pressure measurements. 

In summary

Laser diffraction, Dynamic Light Scattering and Automated Image Analysis and Gas Sorption can all be effective techniques for analysing various properties of pure and alloyed Pt nanoparticles supported on a C matrix. Laser diffraction is ideal for analysing the particle size of C-support that influences the Pt dispersion and porosity in the catalytic active compound. 

While morphological imaging provides some insight into the particle size, it is valuable in providing images of individual agglomerates to enable shape analysis.

Together, these techniques enable manufacturers to optimise both the cost and performance of systems based on hydrogen technology by maximising catalyst efficiency, reducing the amount of Pt required, or developing Pt-based alloy nanoparticles.

Get in Touch with ATA Scientific

If you would like to learn more about hydrogen fuel research, advanced measurement techniques, or how ATA Scientific can support your projects, please contact us today or call us on: +61 2 9541 3500

Our team is ready to assist you with innovative solutions and expert advice tailored to your research and industry needs.

References:

• https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/hydrogen
• https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/knowledge-center/insights/future-days-recap-part-2-battery-and-green-hydrogen-insights-to-power-a-sustainable-future
• https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/industries/battery-and-energy-storage/hydrogen-catalyst-analysis
• https://micromeritics.com/resources/using-the-asap-2020-for-determining-the-hydrogen-adsorption-capacity-of-powders-and-porous-materials/