[Haichuan Hydrogen Energy] Hong Kong-Shenzhen collaboration on solid-state hydrogen production using thin ceramic sheets: cost reduced by half while production capacity increases

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Recently, **media reports indicated new advances in hydrogen technology: universities in Hong Kong and Shenzhen have collaborated to develop a solid-state hydrogen production system using thin ceramic sheets. This approach reduces costs by half compared to the traditional method of producing hydrogen through water electrolysis, while also improving efficiency by over 10%. The project has received **strategic investment and collaboration from the business community, which helps to accelerate its implementation and mass production. Scholars involved in the research and development said that this collaboration reflects the partnership between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in terms of investment, R&D, and application, making the Greater Bay Area an engine for driving the \"hydrogen economy\". A research team from the School of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University, together with **University of Science and Technology, established a startup to develop a new generation of solid-state hydrogen production systems. The new material for hydrogen production is a thin ceramic sheet with positive and negative electrodes; it has low transmission resistance, allowing for efficient and stable hydrogen production even at temperatures of 500 to 600 degrees Celsius. Together with the waste heat generated during hydrogen production, which is recovered and reused to reduce heat loss, the \"electrolytic hydrogen conversion efficiency\" is improved. Chen Bin, an assistant professor at the institute, noted that compared to existing liquid hydrogen production technologies, its solid-state hydrogen production system offers a efficiency improvement of over 10 percent. Furthermore, since the raw materials for ceramic sheets are not precious metals, the cost is low; the production cost of hydrogen using liquid-based technology is about 3 Hong Kong dollars per cubic meter, while this cost can be reduced to 1.6 Hong Kong dollars in the case of solid-state hydrogen production systems, which is nearly half as cheap. Chen Bin’s team is not satisfied with the current performance of their invention. Since ceramic sheets are prone to breaking, numerous repeated tests are required in terms of materials, firing techniques, time, sheet shape, size, etc., in order to improve the stability, efficiency, and lifespan of hydrogen production. Thanks to this project, the team won a bronze award in February of this year at the 2nd \"TERA-Award Smart Energy Innovation Competition\" jointly organized by the Gas Company and **Power Investment. They also caught the attention of Honghua Energy Research Institute, which is part of the Gas Company Group; the institute entered into a strategic partnership with them, making the team one of its pilot projects for development. With **financial and application-related support**, the team aims to achieve large-scale production of hydrogen production systems within two years, with a service life of over 10,000 hours and costs reduced by one-third. When discussing innovation and technology cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Chen Bin believes that the case study of his team demonstrates well the great potential of collaboration between the two regions. **Shenzhen plays an essential role as an investment hub; it has the infrastructure needed for research and development as well as applications. Additionally, the Greater Bay Area offers significant opportunities in the field of offshore wind energy, and high-efficiency electrolysis technologies are highly useful in accelerating the widespread use of \"green hydrogen\".