# A next-generation electrochemical system has been developed that permits the simultaneous manufacturing of hydrogen and value-added chemical compounds utilizing waste glycerol, with the findings printed within the main vitality journal Joule.
# Reduces vitality prices for hydrogen manufacturing whereas enabling the co-production of chemical feedstocks, thereby enhancing the financial viability of inexperienced hydrogen.
Newswise — CHANGWON, South Korea — Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), led by President Chul-jin Choi, introduced {that a} analysis group led by Juchan Yang, principal researcher at KIMS, in collaboration with Professor Ji-Wook Jang, Hankwon Lim, and Hosik Lee of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), has developed a high-efficiency electrochemical system that concurrently produces hydrogen and value-added chemical compounds utilizing glycerol, a low-cost, plentiful byproduct of biodiesel manufacturing. This examine is critical in that it replaces the anodic oxygen evolution response (OER), a key bottleneck in standard water electrolysis, thereby lowering the general cell voltage and bettering vitality effectivity and increasing the scope of electrochemical conversion applied sciences.
Hydrogen is gaining consideration as a key vitality supply within the carbon-neutral period, and numerous water electrolysis applied sciences have been actively developed for its eco-friendly manufacturing. However, standard electrolysis techniques undergo from limitations as a result of oxygen evolution response (OER) on the anode, which requires excessive vitality enter and displays gradual kinetics, thereby lowering total course of effectivity and financial feasibility.
To tackle these challenges, the analysis group developed an anion alternate membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) system that makes use of glycerol instead feedstock and applies the glycerol oxidation response (GOR) on the anode as a paired electrolysis technique. Glycerol, an plentiful and low-cost byproduct of biodiesel manufacturing, permits the response to proceed at decrease vitality enter in comparison with standard water electrolysis. The group additionally employed a copper–cobalt-based non-precious metallic catalyst, attaining excessive catalytic exercise and stability with out counting on costly noble metals. The system demonstrated a excessive present density of 110 mA/cm² at a comparatively low cell voltage of 1.31 V.
Notably, this know-how permits the simultaneous manufacturing of hydrogen and chemical feedstocks similar to formate, distinguishing it from standard water electrolysis processes that produce solely hydrogen. The system achieved a excessive selectivity of roughly 96% towards the goal chemical product (formate), and secure efficiency was confirmed in a large-area electrolyzer cell of 79 cm², demonstrating its potential for sensible industrial purposes.
This know-how represents a promising electrochemical platform that concurrently produces hydrogen and chemical feedstocks utilizing waste bio-resources, providing each lowered manufacturing prices for inexperienced hydrogen and improved useful resource utilization effectivity. In specific, it presents a carbon-neutral manufacturing technique that integrates vitality and chemical manufacturing processes, with the potential to exchange standard separated manufacturing techniques. Furthermore, the system is scalable to steady operation and megawatt (MW)-scale purposes, highlighting its potential as a sensible know-how for industrial deployment.
“This study demonstrates the large-scale synthesis of low-cost, non-precious metal catalysts and validates their performance in commercially relevant electrolyzer systems for the simultaneous production of hydrogen and chemical feedbacks.” stated Juchan Yang, principal researcher at Korea Institute of Materials Science. Professor Ji-Wook Jang of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology added, “Technologies that convert bio-derived byproducts such as glycerol into value-added chemicals represent a key strategy for simultaneously advancing carbon neutrality and the hydrogen economy.”
This analysis was supported by nationwide R&D packages funded by the National Research Council of Science and Technology, Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, National Research Foundation of Korea, and Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology. Advanced evaluation and computational research have been performed utilizing the supercomputing infrastructure of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and the synchrotron radiation amenities of the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory. The findings have been printed on-line on March 18, 2026, within the main vitality journal Joule (Impact Factor: 35.4).
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About Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS)
KIMS is a non-profit government-funded analysis institute below the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea. As the one institute specializing in complete supplies applied sciences in Korea, KIMS has contributed to Korean trade by finishing up a variety of actions associated to supplies science together with R&D, inspection, testing&analysis, and know-how help.