A research team led by Lee Seung-hyun of the Department of Chemical and Molecular Engineering succeeded in developing a high-efficiency and low-cost electrocatalyst, which is the core of the commercialization of water electrolysis for green hydrogen production. Professor Lee Seung-hyun’s research team said that they have developed a low-cost and high-efficient electrocatalyst that can replace the expensive catalysts used in water electrolysis for green hydrogen production.

Green hydrogen, which is produced from water electrolysis with clean and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, can serve as an ideal “sustainable fuel” for carbon-free and clean energy. However, large-scale utilization is hindered because of the problems caused by the small number of deposits and high-cost catalysts such as ruthenium (Ru) and platinum (Pt).

Professor Lee Seung-hyun’s team found that the crystalline catalyst, which was not previously reported, had an improved electrochemically active surface area in an amorphous-shell@crystaline-core formation than in a crystal-shell@crystalline-core formation. Thus, it has a better catalytic effect. 

In addition, the results calculated on the electronic properties of electrochemical catalysts using Density Functional Theory (DFT), which is a computer simulation technology with high accuracy, provide more details on the mechanism of electrochemical catalysts. 

The new catalyst in this study requires a much lower electrode potential than the commercial platinum/ruthenium catalyst, which is expensive in an alkaline electrolyte, and thus shows an excellent overall water electrolytic performance. Therefore, the research team’s catalyst is found to be an effective strategy for the design synthesis of the next-generation, high-performance, amorphous-shell@crystal-core.

Professor Lee Seung-hyun said, “We have paved a new way to develop an economical and efficient catalyst to replace the expensive ruthenium and platinum-based electrochemical, which have beenare the major obstacles in commercializing water electrolysis in the era of carbon neutrality worldwide.”

The study was selected as a Front Cover in the August issue of “Advanced Science (IF=17.521),” an internationally renowned academic journal.