Dr. Chengzhang Wan reveals performance data and comments about efficiency and durability advancements which signal a greener future for hydrogen technology
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (October 24, 2023) — NewHydrogen, Inc. (OTCMKTS:NEWH), the developer of a breakthrough technology that uses clean energy and water to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen, today announced that in a recent podcast the Company’s CEO Steve Hill spoke with Dr. Chengzhang Wan, a key research member of the Company’s sponsored research program at UCLA.
During the conversation, Dr. Wan revealed that UCLA’s breakthrough in improving hydrogen production rates using a new catalyst structure is up to 100 times faster in alkaline conditions than commercial platinum carbon. The discussion also focused on the importance of catalyst durability and the team's work on making catalysts last longer. The findings were published in a recent Nature Materials article titled, “Amorphous nickel hydroxide shell tailors local chemical environment on platinum surface for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction”. The article was authored by Dr. Wan and coauthors including Dr. Yu Huang, the principal investigator.
“Longevity is more crucial than activity in hydrogen catalysts,” said Dr. Wan. “Our research focuses on finding ways to make catalysts last much longer than platinum carbon. We have created an amorphous nickel hydroxide shell around the platinum core to increase the supply rate of hydrogen, thereby enhancing the catalytic reaction. This protective shell around the platinum extends the material's durability by protecting it from dissolution, surface atom migration, and attacks from impurities in the electrolyte.”
However, Dr. Wan’s research is not just about longevity, but also about activity, thus contributing to the overall efficiency and performance of the cell. The significance of this research is yet to be fully realized, but it could potentially make cells last longer, be cheaper to produce, and enhance their overall efficiency.
Dr. Wan stressed the importance of hydrogen in various industries and production processes, including ammonia production, refining, and more. He also discussed the issue of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from traditional hydrogen production methods, urging the need for sustainable alternatives.
Mr. Hill and Dr. Wan discussed the importance of reducing costs in electrolyzer components and improving their longevity. Dr. Wan highlighted the potential of using seawater as a feedstock for electrolyzers, which could significantly reduce costs and make the process more sustainable. However, he explained that seawater electrolyzers are not yet stable or active enough for commercial use, although research is ongoing.
Dr. Wan said, “A new method of production had been successfully experimented in lab scale, and our team is now focusing on developing the anode, particularly exploring the use of transition metal-based catalysts for lower cost and comparable activity and durability to iridium. We are also addressing engineering issues, such as incorporating the anode, cathode, and membrane into a full-scale system.” Despite the challenges, he expressed optimism about the promising future of their work.
Mr. Hill concluded, “We acknowledge the significant jump from lab-scale to industrial-scale production, and the challenges that come with it. However, we are excited about the potential of this technology to fuel various sectors globally, using different feedstocks.”
Dr. Wan holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is listed as a Google Scholar at https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=WHf7VvEAAAAJ
Watch the full discussion on the NewHydrogen Podcast featuring Dr. Chengzhang Wan at https://newhydrogen.com/single-video.php?id=ugybxCsUKa8
For more information about NewHydrogen, please visit https://newhydrogen.com/
NewHydrogen is developing ThermoLoop™ – a breakthrough technology that uses water and heat rather than electricity to produce the world’s lowest cost green hydrogen. Hydrogen is the cleanest and most abundant element in the universe, and we can’t live without it. Hydrogen is the key ingredient in making fertilizers needed to grow food for the world. It is also used for transportation, refining oil and making steel, glass, pharmaceuticals and more. Nearly all the hydrogen today is made from hydrocarbons like coal, oil, and natural gas, which are dirty and limited resources. Water, on the other hand, is an infinite and renewable worldwide resource.
Currently, the most common method of making green hydrogen is to split water into oxygen and hydrogen with an electrolyzer using green electricity produced from solar or wind. However, green electricity is and always will be very expensive. It currently accounts for 73% of the cost of green hydrogen. By using heat directly, we can skip the expensive process of making electricity, and fundamentally lower the cost of green hydrogen. Inexpensive heat can be obtained from concentrated solar, geothermal, nuclear reactors and industrial waste heat for use in our novel low-cost thermochemical water splitting process. Working with a world class research team at UC Santa Barbara, our goal is to help usher in the green hydrogen economy that Goldman Sachs estimated to have a future market value of $12 trillion.
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