Researchers at KAIST in South Korea developed a new hydrogen production system that uses a zinc-air battery to power the process, reducing fire risks.
Currently, green hydrogen produced via water electrolysis with renewable energy has efficiency issues due to fluctuations in sources like solar and wind. Air batteries can be used instead but require expensive catalysts that degrade quickly.
The KAIST team’s system uses a water-soluble electrolyte and a novel high-performance catalyst called G-SHELL to achieve stable hydrogen production at low temperatures with a simple design.
G-SHELL’s core-shell structure and graphene-sandwiched layers provide efficient transport for oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, and oxygen reduction reactions.
Testing found the catalyst maintains high output over repeated charging and has an energy density 5 times greater than current batteries.
The zinc-air battery exhibits greater efficiency than precious metal catalysts. Its use in conjunction with an electrolysis system could enable safer, more sustainable hydrogen generation.
Source: Interesting Engineering
