【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】**Progress achieved in hydrogen production via water electrolysis by the Low-Carbon Research Institute of the Energy Group】
Thread Content
Progress achieved in hydrogen production via water electrolysis at the Low-Carbon Research Institute March 24, 2025 Recently, researchers at the Hydrogen (Ammonia) Technology Research Center of the Beijing Low-Carbon Clean Energy Research Institute, which belongs to an energy group, have made significant progress in the field of hydrogen production through water electrolysis. The research team developed a new technique for regulating the membrane electrode structure, which enabled a substantial increase in current density and hydrogen production efficiency. The relevant research findings were published in the Nature-affiliated journal Communications Engineering. The use of green hydrogen in industries and transportation will significantly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, and it holds strategic importance for achieving the \"dual carbon\" goals. Hydrogen production via alkaline electrolysis of water is the dominant technology for producing hydrogen from renewable sources on a large scale. Increasing its current density and electrolysis efficiency helps to reduce the cost of electrolyzers and electricity consumption, thereby facilitating the widespread use of green hydrogen. For many years, alkaline electrolyzers have used a mechanical combination of metal mesh electrodes and porous membranes, which results in high internal resistance and low catalyst utilization efficiency; as a result, there are certain limitations to improving current density and hydrogen production efficiency. The research team proposed a new technical approach for producing hydrogen via alkaline water electrolysis, involving the direct deposition of micron-scale catalyst coatings on both sides of a porous membrane. The catalytic layer has a three-dimensional porous structure and is seamlessly bonded to the surface of the porous membrane, significantly reducing the ion transport distance and helping to lower the internal resistance of the electrolyzer. At the same time, the three-dimensional porous catalytic layer has a large specific surface area, which increases the number of reactive sites and enhances the catalyst efficiency. This research provides a promising technical route for large-scale, low-cost hydrogen production from renewable energy. Currently, this technology is being developed through a project funded by the **Energy Group’s seed fund, with efforts focused on pilot testing and commercialization of new, high-efficiency alkaline electrolyzers.
The Beijing Institute of Low-Carbon Clean Energy (hereinafter referred to as the “Institute”) is a research and development institution directly under the Energy Group, tasked with the important mission of cultivating talent, developing mechanisms, and producing results. The company currently has over 600 employees, 50% of whom are researchers with doctoral degrees, and more than 10% of the staff are talents brought in from abroad. The Low-Carbon Institute boasts 18 key scientific research platforms, including the National Key Laboratory on Water Resource Protection and Utilization in Coal Mining, the **Research and Development Center for Clean Conversion and Utilization Technologies of Energy Coal**, and the Beijing Engineering Research Center for Nanostructured Thin-Film Solar Cells. With the vision of striving to build **strategic scientific and technological capabilities** and serving the energy sector’s “dual carbon” goals wholeheartedly, the Low-Carbon Research Institute adheres to a scientific and technological innovation strategy that aims to support the development of top-tier enterprises, drive progress in the industry, contribute to the construction of a strong country in science and technology, and lead global advancements in energy technology. It maintains its role as a pioneer in scientific research and development, a hub for scientific talent, an incubator for strategic emerging industries, and a key force in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. The institute formulates a “1248” business strategy: centered on providing scientific and technological support for achieving the energy sector’s “dual carbon” goals, it focuses on two main areas – the low-carbon and green transformation of the group’s core industries and the cultivation of strategic emerging industries. It emphasizes four key elements: “carbon,” “hydrogen,” “water,” and “waste,” and concentrates its efforts on eight key areas: the protection and utilization of coal mine water, hydrogen (ammonia) energy, CCUS, energy storage, catalysts for coal chemical processing, high-end chemicals produced from coal, coal-based materials, and the application of artificial intelligence. As a **model base for attracting talent and expertise, the Low-Carbon Research Institute relies on its national key laboratories and R&D platforms to undertake numerous key project tasks, issue **and industry technical standards, and win **level science and technology awards. It serves as a core team and main force for central state-owned enterprises in establishing hubs for original technology development. Closely aligned with the **Energy Group’s needs for a green and low-carbon industrial transformation as well as the development of strategic emerging industries, and relying on major project construction and technological upgrades, a series of key core technologies have been broken through through independent research and development of core technologies and integrated innovation of application technologies. A number of landmark scientific and technological achievements have also been realized. All these efforts provide strong technological support for the **Energy Group in its endeavor to become a world-class leader in clean and low-carbon energy technology and a top-tier state-owned capital investment company.** Since its establishment, it has undertaken more than 700 research projects in total, including 70 projects at the ** level ； Project initiation and release**, 90 industry and organizational technical standards ； More than 3,600 patent applications were filed, with over 1,500 patents granted; invention patents account for more than 90% of these, and there are over 200 international patent applications ； 22 original technologies have been assessed and found to be at the international first-class level ； It has received 70 awards at the national, provincial (ministerial) levels and from industry associations; it has won the China Patent Award for five consecutive years, including 3 gold awards, 2 silver awards, and 1 excellence award ； More than 390 high-quality papers have been indexed in SCI and EI, of which 68 papers have been published in top international academic journals such as Nature, Science, and Journal of Physics: Letters A ； The journal \"Clean Energy\", sponsored by the Low-Carbon Institute, has readers in 137 countries/regions, and serves as an international academic platform for promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of energy companies.