Hysata, an Australian electrolyser manufacturer claims that its new capillary-fed electrolyser cell achieves a stunning 95% efficiency. If verified, this exceeds the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) 2050 target and far exceeds existing electrolyser technologies.
Hysata claims to be able to achieve these efficiencies by eliminating the “bubble problem.” The breakthrough technology was invented by researchers from the University of Wollongong (UOW) and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES).
Early designs of electrolysers had both electrodes submerged in an electrolyte solution so that bubbles would form all around them. Newer iterations followed, which boosted efficiency by only allowing bubbles to form on one side of each electrode, and then polymer electrolyte membrane technology allowed the cathode side to run without electrolyte, boosting efficiency again.
Now Hysata’s new electrolyser cell takes the concept even further. In this design, water is supplied to hydrogen and oxygen-evolving electrodes by capillary-induced transport, eliminating the formation of bubbles at the electrodes. Hysata claims that removing the bubbles allows the use of the entire surface of the electrolyser catalyst.
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