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Electrolyzers
With our carbon nanotechology platform as a base, we develop material solutions for use in the hydrogen industry. Like a coated nanostructure that acts as a scaffold for iridium catalysts.
Currently, we focus on improving the electrochemical cell in PEM electrolyzers and fuel cells. The cell enables the conversion of electricity into hydrogen and vice versa. Thus, it’s a key component in storing and transmitting renewable energy and decarbonizing industry, transportation, and heating.
Today’s PEM electrolyzers use costly catalyst particles which, in contact with the membrane, enable hydrogen to be formed. These catalyst particles are usually iridium or platinum. In traditional technology, these catalyst particles are mixed in a slurry that is applied on the plastic membrane. However, the method (called CCM) is inefficient as not all catalyst particles come in contact with the membrane.
Smoltek’s unique technology uses coated (corrosion protected) carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as catalyst support applied directly on the PTL substrate (a method called CCS), making all the extremely expensive iridium catalysts come in full contact with the MEA. We call this Smoltek PTE* (porous transport electrode). The result is that the need for iridium particles can decrease radically – we have already showed that our PTE can produce the same amount of hydrogen with only 0.1−0.2 mg iridium/cm2 as a conventional cell that uses 2.0−2.5 mg iridium/cm2.
Our breakthrough innovation—Smoltek PTE—also increases the active surface area by 30 times and enhances the catalytic activity in the electrochemical PEM cell.
So, do you want to reduce the amount of iridium particles (and still produce the same amount of fossil-free hydrogen), or do you want to reduce the size of the cell area in the electrolyzer, thus getting a smaller and cheaper electrolyzer?
* The Smoltek PTE combines the anode PTL with catalyst, thus reducing the MEA layer to just ½ MEA. As seen in the different zoom-ins, the porous PTL is filled with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) that penetrate the ½ MEA, enabling all of the iridium catalysts to make contact with the MEA.
Advantages of Smoltek’s highly efficient PTE
Smoltek’s technology offers a solution to this problem. It enables the manufacture of a new and more efficient PTE for PEM electrolyzers based on our patent protected carbon nanotechnology that creates a three-dimensional surface structure on the anode side’s PTL layer.
The technology enables all iridium catalyst particles to come into contact with the membrane, thanks to the fact the particles are deposited on the nanostructure which is directly in contact with the metallic PTL surface. Thereby, the expensive catalyst particles are fully utilized; thus, the iridium catalyst load in the cell can be reduced by up to 95 percent. This is particularly important as the supply of iridium and platinum are considered critical, i.e. the future demand for these materials cannot be met with certainty, and the reduced supply risks lead to increased production costs for green hydrogen further.
Smoltek’s nanostructure also increases the surface area of the electrode (the one in contact with the membrane). This means that more particles can be placed on a given surface, which in turn can reduce the electrolyzer in size by two to three times while maintaining capacity. A reduced-size means, among other things, smaller investments and lower maintenance and material costs.
Learn more
Read more about our electrolyzer cell material technology in the whitepaper Introducing Smoltek Electrolyzer Technology.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.