High-performance water electrolysis without platinum brings hydrogen economy closer

[Caribbeans]

High-performance water electrolysis without platinum brings hydrogen economy closer

Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Tech | June 11, 2025

Hydrogen is gaining attention as a clean energy source that emits no carbon. Among various methods, water electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity, is recognized as an eco-friendly hydrogen production method.

Specifically, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is considered a next-generation hydrogen production technology due to its ability to produce high-purity hydrogen at high pressure. However, existing PEMWE technology has faced limitations in commercialization due to its heavy reliance on expensive precious metal catalysts and coating materials. Korean researchers have now proposed a new solution to address these technical and economic bottlenecks.

A research team led by Professor Hee-Tak Kim of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in a joint study with Dr. Gisu Doo of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), has developed a next-generation water electrolysis technology that achieves high performance without the need for expensive platinum (Pt) coating. Their paper is published in Energy & Environmental Science.

The research team focused on the primary reason why iridium oxide (IrOx), a highly active catalyst for water electrolysis electrodes, fails to perform optimally. They found that this is due to inefficient electron transfer and, for the first time in the world, demonstrated that performance can be maximized simply by controlling the catalyst particle size....more
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-high-electrolysis-platinum-hydrogen-economy.html

[MayReasonRule]

1. 美國人－你們不需要關稅，你們需要革命！You don't need a hustle, you need a revolution!

Focusing on particle size may well be revolutionary.

Here's to that outcome!