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A Solar-Powered Hydrolyzer

Objective

We aim to determine the technical and economic viability of a novel water electrolyzer technology based in inexpensive catalysts from transition metal coordination polymers. Industrial water electrolyzers currently need the use of corrosive alkaline electrolytes or expensive noble-metal catalysts to reach reasonable efficiencies. Because of this, they cannot compete with low cost hydrogen production using fossil fuels through steam reforming. We have discovered that coordination polymers of earth-abundant metals are active water oxidation catalyst, competitive, fast and more robust than the best heterogeneous catalyst ever reported, able to reach over one million cycles working at neutral pH and ambient conditions. This suggests that our catalysts could be the basis of an efficient and affordable electrolyzer able to function using natural waters. The simplicity of operation and the inexpensive construction materials suggest that this new electrolyzer technology could have good market penetration. We expect to reach high efficiency and low costs for hydrogen production by combining this electrolyzer with a commercially available photovoltaic cell. The results will be analyzed and compared to current electrolyzers and hydrogen production technologies to further assess its viability and identify its competitive advantages. This electrolyzer technology will be protected (IP) and, if the results are positive, targeted to market.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2014-PoC

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Host institution

FUNDACIO PRIVADA INSTITUT CATALA D'INVESTIGACIO QUIMICA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 000,00
Address
AVENIDA PAISSOS CATALANS 16
43007 TARRAGONA
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Tarragona
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 150 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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