Imagine building a hydrogen engine that doesn't rely on rare, expensive metals from other countries. This work replaces those hard-to-find materials with common ones and swaps out harmful chemicals for cleaner alternatives. It's like finding a way to make a high-performance battery using ingredients you can find locally and recycle easily.
Hydrogen technologies rely on critical raw materials and PFAS chemicals that are expensive, environmentally harmful, and subject to supply chain disruptions. This creates a bottleneck for the mass adoption of green hydrogen.
The project is delivering 1st and 2nd generation recipes for MEA fabrication, PFAS-free ionomers, and CRM-free electrodes for high and low temperature cells.
If you are an electrolyser manufacturer dealing with high costs and supply risks of critical raw materials — this project developed CRM-free SOEL air electrodes and PCCEL steam electrodes. These materials maintain performance, such as achieving a Rp of 0.05 Ω·cm² at 750 C, while reducing reliance on imports.
If you are a membrane producer dealing with strict PFAS regulations — this project developed PFAS-free SFS-28/OPBI membranes. These 26 µm membranes show performance comparable to Nafion N212 in terms of durability and cell performance.
If you are a recycling firm dealing with the difficulty of recovering precious metals from spent fuel cells — this project developed enhanced recovery and treatment processes. This allows for the reuse of PGMs and CRMs from end-of-life stacks to lower raw material costs.
Yes, the project aims to lower costs by reducing the use of expensive critical raw materials (CRM) and implementing eco-design guidelines for more efficient manufacturing.
The project is currently developing '1st gen' and '2nd gen' recipes and components. Based on available project data, it is in the validation phase at the cell level rather than full industrial scale.
Based on available project data, the project uses an open innovation research model to communicate results to European academia and industry for exploitation.
Yes, it specifically targets the removal of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from ionomers and reduces the overall environmental footprint of the supply chain.
The project runs from 2023-01-01 to 2028-12-31, with deliverables spanning from 1st generation to 2nd generation components.
The consortium is heavily research-oriented, consisting of 11 partners from 7 countries. It is composed of 7 research organizations and 4 universities, with 0% industry representation. This suggests the project is focused on fundamental breakthroughs and material science rather than immediate commercial deployment.
Contact SINTEF AS in Norway for technical inquiries regarding CRM-free materials.
Contact us to find a partner for piloting these PFAS-free membranes in your production line.
