Spatial ALD for Green Hydrogen
- Electrolysis
- Fuell cells
- Power-to-X
Transition to green hydrogen
To reduce CO2 emissions, we need to rapidly transition from fossil fuels to green hydrogen. Green hydrogen will enable our transportation, heating and industry of the future.
It is expected that the demand for green hydrogen will skyrocket in the coming decades, with a more than 5000x increase in the coming 30 years. Smart solutions are crucial for accelerating the transition.
New generation of electrolysers
Green H₂ is produced by splitting water by electricity in electrolysers. Many commonly used electrolysers use large amounts of iridium and platinum as catalyst materials. The problem is that iridium is one of the scarcest and most expensive materials in the world; it’s more than 3x more expensive than gold and is only mined in small quantities.
For the green hydrogen evolution to take place, we need new electrolysers that use significantly less iridium than is used today. The tools we developed at SparkNano will make this possible.
Reduction of precious metal loading
The solution for reducing the amount of iridium used is Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). At SparkNano, we have adapted ALD in such a way that it can be used to coat very large surfaces at high speeds, so it can be used to apply very thin iridium and platinum catalyst layers for electrolysers.
Using SparkNano’s technology, a reduction of 40x in the amount of iridium can be realized. This enables a massive cost reduction of green hydrogen. An essential breakthrough to realize a CO2-free future.
Minimizing costs
Next to minimizing the iridium and platinum loading in electrolyzers, we also strive for minimum iridium waste in this process. We accomplish this by depositing the exact right amount of material at exactly the right place, with zero waste.
The result: minimized iridium and platinum consumption to minimize costs.