Green hydrogen could get cheaper: a nickel electrode in place of platinum
Korean researchers built a nickel-cobalt electrode that matches platinum in the lab, with materials costing about 99% less.
Green hydrogen is a clean fuel made from water. The costly metal used to make it raises the price. Researchers found a cheap metal that works like it in the lab. It has not reached factories yet.
Hype check
The noise matches the real change.
Our editorial opinion, based on the sources below. How we score
Your call: hype or real?
Real = it will matter in daily use. Hype = louder than it is. One vote, and it can’t be changed.
Our view and readers’ views are opinions, not statements of fact about a product.
Why it matters
A large part of green hydrogen's cost comes from precious metals, and replacing them may lower the price in future.
Watch: a promising idea, still in the lab.
The details
- The team is from the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), and the results are in Advanced Science.
- The electrode combines nickel oxide and a nickel-cobalt alloy on one surface.
- It gives the same hydrogen output as a conventional platinum electrode at about 40% of the overpotential.
- Cell voltage is 11% lower than a conventional nickel-electrode cell in an 8.7 cm unit.
- Performance held through 600 start-stop cycles; the figures are the researchers' own.
Receipts
One trusted outlet reports it. Not confirmed yet. Open the sources and check us.
Written with the help of AI tools and checked against the sources above. How we work
See a mistake? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
