Aluminum (Al) has been considered as a material susceptible to corrosion, but it will become key to core technology in producing clean hydrogen energy.
Aluminum (Al) has been considered as a material susceptible to corrosion, but it will become key to core technology in producing clean hydrogen energy. Recently, a POSTECH research team succeeded in dramatically improving the performance of hydrogen production catalysts using this unstable metal.
This research was conducted by the team of: Professor Yong-Tae Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Graduate Institute of Ferrous & Eco Materials Technology at POSTECH; Dr. Sang-Moon Jung of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ph.D. candidate Byeong-Jo Lee, and professor Seoin Back's team of Sogang University. The research was recognized for its excellence and was published as the cover paper of "ACS Catalysis," an academic journal published by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Hydrogen is being spotlighted as a clean energy source replacing fossil fuels, and water electrolysis all of which is used to mass produce hydrogen using water. In particular, researches on alkaline water electrolysis using alkaline solution as an electrolyte are being actively conducted, as it is cost-effective and suitable for mass production.
Read more at Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
Image: Mechanism of changes in electron structure of catalyst through aluminum doping as well as high activity and high durability confirmation through experiments. (Credit: POSTECH)
