This is how green hydrogen can be produced more efficiently

Hydrogen is considered an alternative to fossil fuels, for example in shipping and aviation. But the production of hydrogen is generally not very environmentally friendly, and results in high energy loss.

So-called ‘green’ hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy.

This is currently much more expensive than traditional production methods.

Yukihiro Takahashi, a PhD candidate at NTNU, has investigated how production can be made cheaper, more efficient, and less time-consuming.

The method requires a nickel coating

The most common technology for producing green hydrogen is alkaline water electrolysis (AWE). 

This method requires a nickel coating both for protection against corrosion and for catalytic activity. A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself being used up.

This nickel coating is usually made by electroplating. This is a method in which electricity is used to apply the coating to a substrate. 

But if the current distribution is uneven, the coating will also be uneven. That leads to material waste and higher costs.

To reduce costs and waste, it's therefore crucial to have good control over this process.

Produced more even coatings

This process is precisely what Takahashi has been working on. 

He has studied so-called complexing agents. They can inhibit excessive nickel growth and produce more even and more effective coatings.

He has also developed mathematical models to describe and optimise the method.

He analysed the effect with regard to pH changes, current efficiency, and uniform thickness.

The result is a model that can predict the results of electroplating, even when other additives are included. These can also be transferred to other complex electrochemical processes.

Reference:

Takahashi et al. Nickel Electrodeposition for Alkaline Water Electrolysers, Doctoral thesis at NTNU, 2025. 

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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