Low-Cost, Robust, High-Activity Water Splitting Electrodes

Key results

• A continuous roll-to-roll flame-based electrocatalyst synthesis and deposition facility was built at the Australian National University (ANU) with the capability to coat a broad range of nanomaterials on porous and flat substrates, made of metals, carbon, glass fibres and metal oxides.
• The facility achieved a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5, advancing over the initially proposed TRL4.
• New catalytic water splitting electrodes tailored for the applications under either strongly alkaline or strongly acidic conditions have been developed, and their scalable fabrication by the ANU roll-to-roll flame synthesis and electrodeposition was demonstrated.
• Robust operation of best-performing electrode systems was demonstrated at elevated temperatures in both alkaline and acidic environments on a timescale of weeks with negligible losses in performance and thermoneutral energy efficiency of up to 87 %.
• AGL Energy Limited and Monash University created a financial model and used it to complete the techno-economic analysis of the feasibility of the use of electrolytic hydrogen in three Australian industry sectors, expanding beyond the initially planned ‘Power-to-Gas’ field of use to other renewable hydrogen applications.
• A key outcome of the analysis identified the cost of water electrolysis devices to a significant extent was affected by the price of the electrodes, as a more significant parameter than the energy efficiency of electrolysers in terms of cost-efficiency.
• The project has served as a springboard for a new project funded by Woodside Energy, a collaboration with leading German institutions and electrolyser companies, and discussions on joint initiatives with Japanese hydrogen industry and academics.