Research Projects

[Rationale of the research] The National Green Hydrogen Mission (India) strongly encourages the development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities for leading H2-fuel production. Specifically, the objective of the mission is the development of a green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum by 2030. Accordingly, tremendous research is focused on developing water electrolyzers to accomplish the target. Importantly, the electrolyzer stack cost breakdown analyses show that the electrode (anode/cathode materials) cost takes more than 50% of the total cost of the stack. Hence, finding alternative catalysts, exhibiting desirable performance, to the state-of-the-art platinum group metal (PGM) based electrode materials is urgently needed for making high-performance water electrolyzer stacks. Importantly, the anode part of the electrolyzer, rendering oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is kinetically sluggish and thus limits the overall performance of the electrolyzer which persists as a major challenge in this field. [Scientific objectives] We, therefore, propose a project for designing transition metal-based electrode materials for accomplishing high performance in anion exchange membrane (AEM) alkaline water electrolyzers (focussing on intrinsic activity enhancement, durability improvement, and cost reduction in the anode part). Specifically, we propose M-N-C structured catalysts for fabricating anodes and the water-splitting activity of the prepared catalysts will be examined using a half-cell and full-cell electrolyzer stack to understand and bridge the gap between them. [Hypothesis to be tested] The proposed hypothesis is that the M-N-C structured catalysts enable intricate regulation of the coordination environment of central metal atoms (M=Co, Ni, Cu) and non-metal (N, S, and P), which facilitates tuning the intrinsic properties and thus regulates OER activity. Interestingly, this synthetic strategy using the unique design of the metal phenolic network is expected to render single-atom catalysts (SACs) endowed with unique properties as it goes beyond nano. [Experiments] Synthesis of M-N-C structured catalysts. Advanced spectroscopic techniques (XAS, Depth-profile-XPS, In-situ Raman), ICP, XRF, and electroanalytical techniques would be used to understand the oxygen electrochemistry at the catalysts/electrolyte interface. This would help us unveil the durability limiting factors and identify unique durability descriptors. Subsequently, the deactivation of the catalyst surface, after prolonged electrolysis, will be identified and novel surface revivification treatment will be implemented to replenish the catalyst's surface to reuse them. [Significance to the field] This project would facilitate the formulation of novel catalyst design principles, identify new durability descriptors, understand surface deactivation pathways, and manifest surface healing methods with academic and industry focus.