The project aims to contribute to the sustainable advancement of hydrogen energy technologies in Lithuania, aligning with both EU and Lithuanian carbon neutrality targets. Given the current challenges associated with hydrogen production methods heavily reliant on fossil fuels, resulting in significant CO2 emissions, the project aims to develop a more environmentally friendly and viable method of hydrogen production using anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis. The project specifically addresses challenges related to AEM, with a focus on optimizing electrocatalysts to ensure an efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER). It proposes the use of transition metal oxides (TMOs), specifically Fe-Ni oxides with Co, Cu, or Mo impurities. The main objective of the project is to develop TMO-based electrocatalysts for efficient and stable oxygen evolution reactions (OER), facilitating the implementation of anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis for the production of renewable hydrogen. Key objectives of the project include the formation of high surface area electrodes, controlled TMO thin films, and nanostructures with enhanced electrocatalytic properties. Anticipated scientific outcomes of the project encompass the development of new methodologies, material structures, characterization, and data analysis techniques for the synthesis of efficient transition metal-based electrocatalysts. Additionally, the project aims to integrate these catalysts into commercial AEM electrolysis systems.
Project funding:
Projects funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (RCL), Projects carried out by researchers’ teams
Project results:
The project focuses on optimizing the methodology for synthesizing efficient transition metal-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis. This includes exploring doping strategies, structural modifications, and phase transformations to enhance catalytic activity. During the project scalable methods for producing cost-effective and reproducible catalysts will be explored. Additionally, it will investigate the integration of these catalysts into practical AEM electrolysis systems. The project’s results will be made publicly available to the scientific community, i.e. the results will be published in international peer-reviewed journals, and the project team will present their results at relevant international conferences, stimulating debate and collaboration within the scientific community. The hosting of research data and printouts in open-access repositories is foreseen to ensure wide accessibility.
Period of project implementation: 2024-09-02 - 2027-08-31
Project coordinator: Kaunas University of Technology
