Research Project at SDU Aims to Make Green Hydrogen Production PFAS-Free and Competitive

by Sebastian Wittrock (Univeristy of Southern Denmark) In collaboration with European partners, researchers from SDU’s Department of Green Technology will develop a new type of electrolyser that can produce green hydrogen more cheaply, sustainably, more efficiently, and without the use of PFAS, which is currently used.

We keep hearing it: green hydrogen is essential if the green transition is to succeed. The fuel is needed in heavy industry, in the transport sector, and as an energy source on days when the sun isn’tshining and the wind turbines are still.

The problem right now is that green hydrogen – that is, hydrogen produced using green electricity – must be made through what’s known as electrolysis. And currently, that process is resource-intensive and therefore very expensive compared to hydrogen made from fossil fuels.

In addition, the production often relies on environmentally and health-hazardous fluorinated polymers, also known as PFAS, which the EU aims to phase out – and may even ban entirely.

A major new European research project called SUPREME and led by the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) aims to address all of this.

Together with six partners, including both private companies and other research institutions, researchers from SDU’s Department of Green Technology will, over the next three years, develop a new electrolysis technology that is cleaner and cheaper.

- The ambition is to demonstrate that green hydrogen can be produced competitively, sustainably and without the problematic substances on which the technology currently depends. We want to develop a new type of electrolysis that is ready to be taken forward to industrial application and can play a real role in the green transition, says Shuang Ma Andersen, professor at the Faculty of Engineering at SDU and project lead.

Specifically, the goal is that the new technology will eventually be able to produce 1 kilogram of green hydrogen for 2 euros, which is roughly the current level for fossil-based hydrogen. If successful, this could result in a CO₂ equivalent saving of 2 million tonnes as early as 2030.

European collaboration

The project is based on the so-called PEM electrolysis, which stands for proton exchange membrane. This is currently the most widespread technology for producing green hydrogen.

The technology is efficient and well-suited to work with solar and wind energy, but it is also dependent on very rare and expensive platinum-group metals and membranes containing PFAS. This makes the electrolysers costly, vulnerable to raw material shortages, and potentially problematic for the environment and public health.

In the project, the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council TÜBITAK will be responsible for developing a PFAS-free membrane, while the university TU Graz in Austria will benchmark towards the commercial opportunities.

Researchers at SDU, in collaboration with the British metal and catalyst company Ames Goldsmith, will work to reduce the use of the rare platinum-group metal iridium by up to 75% while also developing processes that allow for the recycling of about 90% of these valuable metals.

Finally, the German research institute Fraunhofer will be responsible for manufacturing the electrolyser membrane assembly, while the Norwegian hydrogen company Element One Energy AS will develop and test a new rotating electrolyser.

- We have brought together a strong European consortium with some of the most skilled research environments and companies within their respective fields, and that gives us a unique starting point. Together, we can tackle some of the key challenges currently standing in the way of the widespread adoption of green hydrogen, says Shuang Ma Andersen.

Meet the researcher

Shuang Ma Andersen is a professor at the Department of Green Technology. She has decades of experience in the research of, among many other things, catalysts made from platinum-group metals. Read more

About the project

SUPREME is a three-year European research project led by the University of Southern Denmark. The project aims to develop a new PEM electrolysis technology that can produce green hydrogen more cheaply, more efficiently, more sustainably and without the use of fluorinated polymers (PFAS).

The ambition is to reduce dependence on scarce and expensive platinum-group metals, increase recycling of critical raw materials and bring the technology closer to industrial application, with the goal of making green hydrogen competitive around 2030.

The project is carried out in collaboration with TÜBİTAK (Türkiye), TU Graz (Austria), Ames Goldsmith/Ceimig (United Kingdom), Fraunhofer (Germany) and Eonee (Norway) and is part of the EU’s Clean Energy Transition Partnership. READ MORE