Project description
Replacing critical raw materials in proton exchange membrane electrolysers
Water electrolysis is a key technology for storing excess renewable energy. The EU-funded RECYCALYSE project aims to break the bottlenecks that hold back the further development of proton exchange membrane electrolysers, namely the high capital costs and the use of critical raw materials. The project will develop new catalyst supports and replace critical raw materials in catalysis with earth-abundant elements such as nickel, manganese and copper. It will then devise a recycling scheme for the new catalysts, electrodes and overall electrolyser system. The sustainable development and management of materials could ultimately reduce EU imports and create a circular economy.
Objective
RECYCALYSE will disrupt the energy storage market through novel and recyclable catalytic materials made of abundant elements to be used in the most promising type of electrolysers to date, i.e. proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEMEC). To overcome the main barriers that remain for PEMEC, namely high capital cost and use of critical raw materials (CRM), and to boost the economic competitiveness of EU stationary storage production, two main objectives have been defined. First, we will develop and manufacture highly active sustainable oxygen evolution (OER) catalysts that will reduce or eliminate CRMs, thus decreasing CO2 emissions and reducing cost. This will be achieved using novel supports, which we will also develop during the project, and by substituting CRMs with earth abundant elements such as Ni, Mn and Cu. Secondly, we will develop a recycling scheme for PEMEC catalysts, electrodes and overall system, thus reducing or avoiding the dependence on materials imports in Europe, implementing the recovered elements in the new developed catalysts, thus reaching a full circular economy.
To meet these objectives RECYCALYSE combines world-leading research institutions and innovative and R&D performing SMEs specialised in the in hydrogen, materials engineering and recycling.
The novel catalysts prepared with the new green processes along with the PEMEC prototype that we will design and build, will situate EU in an excellent position regarding energy storage. We will produce hydrogen with a high purity, and its transformation into energy will greatly reduce CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the novel low-CRM catalysts and developed materials recycle processes will strongly contribute to fulfil EU 2020 and 2050 targets.
In summary, RECYCALYSE will result in a substantial reduction in the levelised costs of energy storage, leading to an improved technical and economic competitiveness of EU energy storage production suitable to store large amount of energy with at cost.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
2630 Taastrup
Denmark