PennState researcher works to lower cost of hydrogen production

In Pennsylvania, PennState reported that Penn State doctoral candidate in chemical engineering Arash Emdadi and his lab colleagues are working to improve the hydrogen production method to make it more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

Emdadi is working toward commercializing a new electrolyzer invented by Professor Bruce Logan’s civil and environmental engineering lab. The electrolyzer uses a cheaper membrane material for separation and utilizes renewable energy. 

“The proton exchange membrane currently used is expensive. The membrane and the catalysts on the membrane can make up approximately 20% of the total cost of the electrolyzer,” Emdadi said. “We are trying to reduce the cost of those membranes to be able to build it cheaper. By doing that, we can reduce the cost of producing hydrogen. Also, the source of energy for ours will be solar or potentially wind and not natural gas.”

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