ELECSO

© EFRE

ELECSO: Significant increase in electrolysis efficiency through electrode surface optimization
(Elec_trolyser-S_urface-O_ptimization - ELECSO)

(Work packages: Laser-induced coating of electrode surfaces with catalyst materials and coating of surfaces with hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials)

Joint project coordination
TUD Dresden University of Technology - Chair of Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy Technology (TUD-WKET)

Brief description

All electrolyzers available on the market today require very clean water (deionized water or steam) in order to operate with high efficiency and long-term stability. Degradation of the electrodes due to corrosion or impurities in the water leads to a rapid reduction in efficiency until the electrolyzer fails. This results in two objectives for the further development of the electrodes:

• Increasing the efficiency of the electrodes: By using laser-based surface structuring, the available reactive surface is significantly increased geometrically. At the same time, the release of the product gases H2 and O2, which cover part of the anode and cathode surface as bubbles and thus temporarily block the reactive surface, is significantly improved. As a result, the production rate of the electrolyser is significantly increased.
• Increasing the robustness of the electrodes against corrosion and impurities in the water: By using laser-based surface coating methods through PLD (Pulsed Laser Deposition), electrode materials can be coated quickly and efficiently with a wide variety of catalytically effective material combinations.

This eliminates the complicated and time-consuming process of traditional chemical alloy production with subsequent application to the electrode. In addition, the PLD process also makes it possible to produce material combinations from alloy components that can only be produced at great expense using conventional processes. Furthermore, the PLD process is predestined to create any layer structures from different materials. This means that new types of surface structures can be created and investigated. The aim is to develop more corrosion-resistant material compositions and layer structures.