Researchers from 网红黑料 are collaborating with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on a two-year, $500,000 project that could help make Atlantic Canada a hub for green hydrogen innovation.
Drs. Mita Dasog and Michael Freund of the Department of Chemistry are leading the project that aims to identify and test promising catalysts that could serve as alternatives to the costly precious metals used in the production of green hydrogen.
The bulk of the project鈥檚 funding comes from a $352,000 grant awarded through the NRC鈥檚 (MCF). The MCF program is for and is funded through the NRC鈥檚 Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation program. Remaining funding will come from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and partners.
Shown right: Dr. Mita Dasog.
鈥淐anada and the Province of Nova Scotia have identified green hydrogen to play a crucial role in meeting net zero goals,鈥� says Dr. Dasog, an associate professor and Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Chair. 鈥淗ydrogen burns cleanly to produce thermal energy and/or electricity. It has the potential to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as material and chemical manufacturing industries, heavy-duty transport, shipping, and aviation.鈥�
Producing green hydrogen
Commercially, green hydrogen is produced using a process called water electrolysis, in which an electrolyzer 鈥� powered by a renewable energy source such as wind or solar 鈥� splits fresh water into hydrogen and oxygen. Unlike other methods of producing hydrogen, which can involve the use of natural gas, coal, or non-renewable energy, green hydrogen does not result in any greenhouse gas emissions. A hindrance to more widespread use is that commercial proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers require precious metals as catalyst materials on its anode (iridium) and cathode (platinum).
For green hydrogen production to ramp up, it鈥檚 necessary to replace precious metals with something cheaper and more readily available. 鈥淚f we replace the current metals with other high-performing elements that are also rare, like palladium or rhodium, it鈥檚 still the same problem,鈥� says Dr. Dasog, the principal investigator on the project. 鈥淥ur focus is to start replacing precious metals with more abundant elements, but they have to perform as well as current catalysts do.鈥�
Identifying alternative catalysts
Fortunately, there is no shortage of scientific literature discussing catalysts in green hydrogen production, but reading through thousands of research papers is not a task that can realistically be done individually. Enter artificial intelligence (AI).听