A new technology developed by a University of California, Berkeley chemist may help make hydrogen fuel cells more affordable and durable. Shannon Boettcher and his team have redesigned water electrolyzers, devices that produce hydrogen from water using electricity, to protect the electrodes from degradation—a common problem that has made these systems expensive and less reliable.
Hydrogen is used in heavy transport, as a chemical feedstock for fertilizers, and for long-term energy storage. Currently, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas or coal, processes that emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide. While producing hydrogen through water electrolysis can avoid these emissions, the cost remains high compared to fossil-fuel-derived hydrogen unless subsidies are provided.
Boettcher’s team focused on anion-exchange-membrane water electrolyzers, which combine the benefits of existing technologies but have struggled with durability issues. By mixing zirconium oxide inorganic polymers with organic polymers in the membrane near the anode electrode—the site where most degradation occurs—they created a protective layer that slows down damage.
“If you can make this really work, it’s not unreasonable to expect a 5x or 10x reduction in the cost of these membrane electrolyzers, which would truly enable us to put them on the grid as a variable-load offtake of low-cost electrons and deliver hydrogen,” said Boettcher.
Electrolyzers can convert surplus solar and wind energy into hydrogen for later use in industry or seasonal storage. “We’re trying to develop electrochemical technologies for making hydrogen that can take advantage of all that intermittent electricity,” Boettcher added.
The findings were published on October 16 in Science. According to Boettcher, their approach resulted in “a hundred times decrease in the degradation rate.” He noted they are not yet at full commercial viability but called this improvement “by far the biggest knob we’ve found to get there.”
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy before its grant was unexpectedly terminated during a recent government shutdown—a decision UC Berkeley is contesting.
Boettcher continues his work as chair in chemical engineering at UC Berkeley and directs its Center for Electrochemical Science, Engineering and Technology (CESET). The university is also introducing new courses related to batteries and electrochemical technologies through its Electrochemistry Academy and collaborating with innovation hubs like the Electrochemistry Foundry in Hayward. In September, California invested $28 million through the California Energy Commission into accelerating commercialization efforts for advanced battery technologies.
“Hydrogen production, storage, shipping — they’re all expensive and there’s a lot of challenges. But the progress in this technology is incredible,” Boettcher said. “The era of hydrogen fuel from electrolysis outcompeting fossil fuels without subsidy for many different applications is coming.”
Coauthors on this research include scientists from UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab, Versogen (a Delaware-based company), University of Delaware, and Stanford University.
