Smoltek Hydrogen achieves milestone with A4-sized CNF-growth

We are the first in the world to achieve this. The accom­plish­ment is a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone for us, and very valu­able as a proof to cus­tomers that our tech­nol­o­gy is scal­able. This also means that we now can pro­duce small A4-sized test series of the porous trans­port elec­trode, which cus­tomers can use when devel­op­ing next gen­er­a­tion of PEM electrolyzers.

Elli­nor Ehrn­berg, Pres­i­dent of Smoltek Hydrogen

We are pleased to con­firm that we can now grow car­bon nanofibers (CNF) across a full A4-sized area. This mile­stone was achieved using the same tita­ni­um sub­strate that will be used in our future high-vol­ume pro­duc­tion line, where we plan to coat sur­faces of at least one square meter at a time.

Shafiq Kabir, Head of Vol­ume Process­es at Smoltek Hydrogen

Back­ground to the achieve­ment of CNF in A4-size
In 2023 the founder of Smoltek, Shafiq Kabir, re-joined the com­pa­ny to scale up tech­nolo­gies to the sizes required in the hydro­gen busi­ness. Dur­ing the spring, Smoltek Hydro­gen upgrad­ed Smoltek’s pro­pri­etary PECVD R&D tool to grow CNF over a larg­er area. The improve­ments include a larg­er heater, a new top elec­trode, and a mod­i­fied growth process. As a result, the R&D‑team suc­cess­ful­ly expand­ed the plas­ma size from a 6‑inch diam­e­ter to an A4 size, tripling the cov­er­age area and achiev­ing sta­ble plas­ma across the entire A4 surface.

By expand­ing our R&D tool’s capa­bil­i­ties, we gain valu­able knowl­edge that will pre­pare and accel­er­ate the trans­fer of our growth recipes, from lab­o­ra­to­ry tech­nol­o­gy in the R&D tool to indus­tri­al appli­ca­tions. Achiev­ing A4-sized car­bon nanofiber growth is an essen­tial mile­stone towards devel­op­ing a scal­able indus­tri­al process.

Shafiq Kabir, Head of Vol­ume Process­es at Smoltek Hydrogen