current research in green and sustainable chemistry

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry

Volume 2 • Issue 2

• ISSN: 2666-0865

Editor-In-Chief: Avtar S. Matharu

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry (CRGSC) is a new primary research, gold open access journal from Elsevier. CRGSC publishes original papers and short communica… Read more

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Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry (CRGSC) is a new primary research, gold open access journal from Elsevier. CRGSC publishes original papers and short communications (including viewpoints and perspectives) resulting from research in green and sustainable chemistry and associated disciplines. Review articles are also welcome, but only after consultation with the Editor.

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry is a peer-reviewed gold open access (OA) journal and upon acceptance all articles are permanently and freely available. It is a companion to the highly regarded review journal Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry (2018 CiteScore 4.36) and is part of the Current Opinion and Research (CO+RE) suite of journals . All CO+RE journals leverage the Current Opinion legacy of editorial excellence, high-impact, and global reach to ensure they are a widely-read resource that is integral to scientists' workflows.

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry covers latest developments in: circular, sustainable, chemical processes and recycling; waste minimisation; renewable resources and sustainable materials, biorefineries and biomass valorisation; CO2 capture, storage and utilisation; green solvents; catalysis; green processes, technologies and engineering; green metrics; renewable energy and storage; life cycle assessment, and; new business models, ethics, legislation and economics. Criteria for publication are quality, novelty, and impact.

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry builds on Elsevier's reputation for excellence in scientific publishing and long-standing commitment to communicating reproducible chemistry research targeted at improving human health.

• Expertise - Editors and Editorial Board bring depth and breadth of expertise and experience to the journal. • Speed - Submission and peer review is fast, and publication of final manuscripts is instantaneous. • Discoverability - Articles get high visibility and maximum exposure on an industry-leading platform that reaches a vast global audience.

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The Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. For more information, please refer to https://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest

Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry

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• Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
• Environmental Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry

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8th green & sustainable chemistry conference.

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Join us back in Dresden for the 8th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference:

We look forward to meeting again in Dresden for a  high-level and inspiring program which will explore inter- and transdisciplinary aspects of green and sustainable chemistry. View our updated topics list.

Invited speakers will be joined by the finalists of the Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge, contributed talks and posters for which abstracts are invited.

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Chair’s Welcome

The last edition of the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference (GSCC) held in Dresden last May was a resounding success - more participants then ever from all over the world! Given the global issues we are facing this is not only good news, but urgently needed and a very positive development after the Covid pandemic. It demonstrates how important and how much needed and appreciated face to face exchange is in science.

In a recent report it was found that most of the planet is already hurt. At the same time we see more and more resource issues, including social and economic frictions coming along with it. These challenges require even more interdisciplinary exchange, understanding, concepts and working within chemistry and sub-disciplines, but also with the world outside of chemistry. As the material world around us is shaped by chemistry, chemistry, both as science and an industrial sector, is one of the most important disciplines to solve the upcoming issues. These contributions however should be truly sustainable and not just an add-on technical solution ("same old thinking and business as usual“); we need interdisciplinary and inter regional cooperation. The GSCC conference has fostered this from the very first edition and this will continue.

However it was also clear from the very beginning that, apart from this interdisciplinary approach, solid knowledge in chemistry itself is also needed to successfully address the above-mentioned challenges and to identify the opportunities which exist. All this is needed in reproach and desertion of worldwide existing policies towards more sustainable development (e.g. UN SDGs, European Green Deal, Planetary Boundaries, Climate Action). As products of chemical and allied industries, such as pharmacy, are the most important basis of our material life and increasingly for energy and health as well, and as they are basically present in all areas of human existence, sustainable chemistry - including, but differing from green chemistry and the role of chemistry within a circular economy - is an indispensable pillar of a more sustainable future. Sustainable chemistry therefore is interdisciplinary in its character and thus it includes the questions: Chemistry for what? Chemistry for whom? And why? With such an understanding, I am sure, the above mentioned challenges can be met in a sustainable manner!

The 8th GSCC will be a great opportunity to discuss and further develop the key characteristics of sustainable chemistry opens in new tab/window , the relationship of sustainable chemistry and green chemistry, and the role of chemistry within a circular economy.

I am inviting you to this most needed and, at the same time in a positive sense, most exciting journey!

See you at the 8th GSCC in Dresden in May 2024!

Klaus Kümmerer Conference Chair

Elsevier Foundation Chemistry for Climate Action Challenge

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The five finalists of the 2024 edition of the challenge will give a short presentation to the judges at the Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference where the winning project will be announced.

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Supporting Publications

Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry opens in new tab/window.

In  Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry opens in new tab/window , we help the reader by providing in a systematic manner:

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Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry  builds on Elsevier's reputation for excellence in scientific publishing and long-standing commitment to communicating reproducible chemistry research targeted at improving human health.

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Discoverability  - Articles get high visibility and maximum exposure on an industry-leading platform that reaches a vast global audience.

Previous events

7th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference 22-24 May 2023 | Dresden, Germany

6th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference Online – Live and On-demand | 16-18 November 2021

5th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference 10-11 November 2020 | Online

4th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference 5-8 May 2019 | Dresden, Germany

3rd Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference 13-16 May 2018 | Hotel Intercontinental Berlin, Germany

2nd Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference 14 - 17 May 2017 | Hotel InterContinental Berlin, Germany

1st  Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference 3  - 6 April 2016 |  Hotel InterContinental Berlin, Germany

What  previous delegates thought about the conference:

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• Open access
• Published: 07 March 2024

Advances in green chemistry and engineering

• Jechan Lee 1 &
• Assunta Marrocchi 2  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  3133 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

1530 Accesses

Metrics details

• Climate-change mitigation
• Environmental impact

Green chemistry and engineering seek for maximizing efficiency and minimizing negative impacts on the environment and human health in chemical production processes. Driven by advances in the principles of environment protection and sustainability, these fields are expected to greatly contribute to achieving sustainable development goals. To this end, many studies have been conducted to develop new approaches within green chemistry and engineering. The Advances in Green Chemistry and Engineering Collection at Scientific Reports aims at gathering the latest research on developing and implementing the principles of green chemistry and engineering.

Introduction

In the research areas of green chemistry/engineering, green synthesis of chemicals and solvents, waste recycling, and biodegradable polymer synthesis are emerging trends. Developing less hazardous synthesis protocols of chemicals and solvents is necessary to move the industrial landscape in various sectors (organic synthesis, pharmaceuticals, pollutant extraction, etc.) forward to a long-term sustainable reality. Although earlier studies on green synthesis of chemicals/solvents tended to focus on small molecules, medium-sized molecules have recently garnered more attention. The current landscape of waste recycling is to recover value-added fractions (e.g., monomers and functional materials) from complex waste substances characterized by intricate compositions (e.g., composite and unsorted plastics). Synthesized biodegradable polymers have continuously gained attention due to the difficulty in procuring reproducibility when using natural polymeric materials 1 . Many recent studies aim to improve the scalability and stability of biodegradable polymers to meet criteria for commercialization.

Article highlights in this collection

Highly-stable low-toxic organogermanium compounds have recently been used as reagents in the synthesis of complex organic molecules 2 , 3 . Stachowiak‑Dłużyńska et al. reported an efficient protocol for the reactions between alkynylgermanes and silanols or terminal acetylenes using a commercially-available potassium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (KHMDS) as the catalyst 4 . The KHMDS catalyst allowed a dealkynative coupling to synthesize a variety of organogermanes such as alkynylgermanes and germasiloxanes. The KHMDS-based process offered desirable features such as high chemoselectivity, simple operation, benign reaction conditions, and low cost of the reagents and catalyst, thereby potentially enabling green synthesis of value-added organogermanium compounds.

Natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES), made from non-toxic components derived from natural compounds (e.g., menthol, thymol, organic acids, and salts) 5 , is considered an environmentally friendly solvent. Hunter et al. proposed a method of extracting micro‑ and nano‑plastic particles from water using hydrophobic NADES 6 . Three hydrophobic NADESs were made by combining decanoic acid, menthol, or thymol with different molar ratios. They were used to extract micro‑ and nano‑plastic particles of polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid from fresh water and salt water. The extraction efficiencies ranged between 50 and 93% within 0.2–1.3 h. The extraction efficiency was highly associated with the type and size of plastic particles.

Among various coating methods, thin phosphate-based coating combines crucial material protection potential and environmental benefits by repelling water, decomposing organic and inorganic compounds, and providing anticorrosive properties 7 . Zemajtis et al. investigated the effect of a hydrophobic agent on the transformation from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity of TiO 2 -doped zinc phosphate coating systems using high-resolution neutron imaging (HR-NI), confocal laser scanning microscope, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction techniques 8 . The HR-NI showed that water imbibition is observed for the superhydrophilic coating, while water ingress into porous ceramic substrate is prevented by the superhydrophobic coating. The characteristics of the TiO 2 -doped zinc phosphate coating were highly associated with chemical bonding, surface roughness, and photocatalytic reactivity. It was also demonstrated that a two-layer superhydrophobic system can create effective water barriers on the surface with the contact angle of 153° that is still effective for damaged surface.

Due to rapidly growing demand for wind energy, the generation of wind turbine blade waste have increased. Therefore, decommissioned wind turbine blades need to be carefully recycled 9 . Muzyka et al. proposed a novel concept of end-of-life wind turbine blade recycling process 10 . The process is to dissolve thermoset resin fraction (containing ester groups) of wind turbine blade waste and carbon fiber composites via transesterification at < 200 °C in the presence of 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene, ethylene glycol, and 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (1:1:1 molar ratio), resulting in up to 100% resin degradation yield. Fiber materials could be readily separated from the product stream. The resin degradation yield may depend on waste compositions.

Finding alternatives to non-biodegradable plastics has raised concerns worldwide as plastic waste harms the environment. Microalgae are considered as a renewable source for bioplastic production 11 . Chalermthai et al. conducted techno‑economic assessment (TEA) of co‑production of food packaging bioplastic and food supplements from edible microalgae, Arthrospira spp. (Spirulina) 12 . In their study, the production scale was assumed to meet 1% of the local plastic demand in Thailand (≈1200 MT per year) and 1% of the global Spirulina demand as food supplement (≈1000 MT per year). The TEA results indicated that the co-production of the Spirulina-based bioplastic and food supplement powder is an attractive approach with the annual revenue of up to USD 55.6 million, a payback time of ≈2.6 y, and a return on investment of ≈38.5% despite high capital and operating costs. In the large-scale process, the selling price of bioplastic and the split ratio of biomass used for bioplastic and food supplement were found to be the most sensitive parameters affecting its profitability.

This Collection provides a group of articles offering new insights into the approaches to synthesize less hazardous functional chemicals and solvents for different applications (e.g., organic synthesis, microplastic extraction, and coatings), suggesting new routes to develop composite waste recycling method, and evaluating the techno-economic potential of algal biorefinery for producing both bioplastic and food supplement.

Panchal, S. S. & Vasava, D. V. Biodegradable polymeric materials: Synthetic approach. ACS Omega 5 , 4370–4379 (2020).

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Dahiya, A. & Schoenebeck, F. Orthogonal and modular arylation of alkynylgermanes. ACS Catal. 12 , 8048–8054 (2022).

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Xu, Q.-H. & Xiao, B. Organogermanium (IV) compounds in photo-induced radical reactions. Org. Chem. Front. 9 , 7016–7027 (2022).

Stachowiak-Dłużyńska, H. et al. Access to germasiloxanes and alkynylgermanes mediated by earth-abundant species. Sci. Rep. 13 , 5618 (2023).

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   ADS   Google Scholar  

van Osch, D. J. G. P., Dietz, C. H. J. T., van Spronsen, J., Kroon, M. C., Gallucci, F., van Sint Annaland, M. and Tuinier, R. A Search for Natural Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvents Based on Natural Components, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. , 7 , 2933–2942 (2019).

Hunter, J. R. et al. Sci. Rep 13 , 10585 (2023).

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   ADS   Google Scholar  

Hasan, M. S., Zemajtis, F., Nosonovsky, M., and Sobolev, K. Synthesis of ZnO/TiO2-Based Hydrophobic Antimicrobial Coatings for Steel and Their Roughness, Wetting, and Tribological Characterization J. Tribol. , 144 , (2022)

Zemajtis, F. et al. From superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity: High-resolution neutron imaging and modeling of water imbibition through porous surfaces treated with engineered nano-coatings. Sci. Rep. 13 , 11176 (2023).

Yang, W., Kim, K.-H. & Lee, J. Upcycling of decommissioned wind turbine blades through pyrolysis: A review. J. Clean. Prod. 376 , 134292 (2022).

Article   Google Scholar  

Muzyka, R., Sobek, S., Korytkowska-Wałach, A., Drewniak, Ł & Sajdak, M. Recycling of both resin and fibre from wind turbine blade waste via small molecule-assisted dissolution. Sci. Rep. 13 , 9270 (2023).

Park, Y.-K. & Lee, J. Achievements in the production of bioplastics from microalgae. Phytochem. Rev. 22 , 1147–1165 (2023).

Chalermthai, B., Charoensuppanimit, P., Nootong, K., Olsen, B. D. & Assabumrungrat, S. Techno-economic assessment of co-production of edible bioplastic and food supplements from Spirulina. Sci. Rep. 13 , 10190 (2023).

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Acknowledgements

The guest editors express their gratitude to all colleagues for submitting their cutting-edge contributions. Our gratitude is also due to all peer reviewers who donated their valuable time to assess and help improve these contributions.

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Department of Global Smart City & School of Civil, Architectural Engineering, and Landscape Architecture, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea

Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, 06123, Perugia, Italy

Assunta Marrocchi

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J.L. wrote the editorial. A.M. gave feedback on writing the editorial.

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Correspondence to Jechan Lee .

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Lee, J., Marrocchi, A. Advances in green chemistry and engineering. Sci Rep 14 , 3133 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53594-z

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Green Chemistry Blog

Call for papers: green and sustainable batteries.

Green Chemistry , Journal of Material Chemistry A , Sustainable Energy & Fuels and RSC Sustainability are delighted to announce a call for paper for their latest cross journal themed collection on Green and Sustainable Batteries , Guest Edited by Magda Titirici (Imperial College London), Rebeca Marcilla (IMDEA Energy Institute), Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo (Institute of Carboquimica ICB-CSIC) and Theresa Schoetz (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

About this Themed Collection

This themed collection will showcase cutting-edge research, advancements, and remaining challenges in realising the holy grail of batteries: sustainable batteries that balance performance, cost and environmental sustainability.  The collection aims to uncover new research opportunities in this field by featuring multidisciplinary research on alternative battery chemistries,  sustainable electrolytes, sustainability assessment (including assessing materials criticality and its environmental impact), battery recycling, electrodes manufacturing for improved performance, understanding and preventing degradation and improving life time, design for disassembly and technoeconomic assessment among other topics closely fitting to the sustainable battery topic.

Preferred topics include but are not limited to:

• Alternative battery chemistries to Li including but not limited to Na, K, Al, Zn, dual ion, proton or organic batteries etc
• Li based batteries using non-critical materials to include but not limited to alternative anodes to graphite based on abundant elements and critical metal free cathodes including sulfur, air, etc
• High energy density batteries without excess of Li also known under the more popular name of “anode-free” or “anodeless” batteries, where the amount of Li is reduced while ideally addressing the sustainability of all other components.
• Sustainable electrolytes , including but not limited to concentrated water in salt electrolytes, sustainable (bio)polymer-based electrolytes, ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, new organic solvents/salt electrolyte design, solid electrolytes without critical metals.
• Life cycle assessment studies of Li and other battery technologies, ideally not only from a global warming perspective but also with impact on ecosystems, biodiversity, water pollution and human rights
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June 20, 2024

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Greening the food supply chain: Developing sustainable food systems through interdisciplinary collaboration

by University of Connecticut

Sustainability is a hot topic in just about every field that engages with the environment, including agriculture. An interdisciplinary group of researchers in UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources has published a paper outlining the current state of sustainable food production research in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research .

The group includes Yangchao Luo, associate professor of nutritional sciences; Zhenlei Xiao, associate professor-in-residence of nutritional sciences; and Abhinav Upadhyay, assistant professor of animal science. Bai Qu, Luo's Ph.D. student, is the lead author on the paper.

Sustainable food production focuses on creating food systems that are environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially equitable.

"It focuses on the entire food supply chain, from farm to table, ensuring that each step is sustainable, minimizes waste, and reduces the carbon footprint," Luo says.

The paper outlines the key features of sustainable food production including environmental stewardship , economic vitality, innovation and adaptation, and social responsibility.

The paper also reviews green technologies like urban agriculture , food nanotechnology, and plant-based foods, all of which play a role in reducing the negative impacts of food production.

"This is not a new concept, but I think with the development of emergent technology, a lot of things are going on now, it is very important to revisit this concept," Luo says.

This publication provides a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective on the topic.

"Sustainable food production is a very collaborative topic," Luo says. "You cannot do everything on your own."

Sustainable food production encompasses the concept of a circular economy in which the waste from one process or product can be reused elsewhere.

"People have not cared about the waste generated, the impact to the environment, whether it's sustainable or not," Luo says. "People are pretty much profit driven. Now we have to change the whole concept or else the entire agricultural industry cannot be sustainable."

This paper reflects the College and UConn's broader commitment to sustainability, Luo explains.

"There's many things in the College and at the University, campus-wide, that flow into this area that really inspire me to dive deeper into this topic," Luo says.

Luo, co-chair for CAHNR's committee for sustainable agriculture and food production, is currently working with a group of students to develop an organic poultry feed additive made from microalgae.

"You cannot think about sustainable agriculture from a single discipline," Luo says. "It has to be highly collective and collaborative from all three areas—society, environment, and community health. You have to connect all three angles together."

Provided by University of Connecticut

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Sustainability for the Holidays

I always look forward to my yearly animated trip up Mount Crumpet. The story centers on a grumpy, sustainability-minded hermit, living off-the-grid and traveling by dog sled. He attempts to curtail the excessive consumption of the townsfolk below. There is some stuff about holiday spirit and heart enlargement, ultimately leading him to join the consumptive revelry. He forsakes his more sustainable lifestyle and is last seen serving environmentally challenged roast beast.  

My interpretation of  How the Grinch Stole Christmas !  clearly evolved. Our behaviors have sustainability implications. Celebrating the holidays is no exception.  

I’ve already seen a trove of articles addressing sustainability of the holidays. Chemistry and materials science are foundational technologies in lighting and trees, two areas mentioned frequently in discussions of holiday sustainability.    

Consumption is rarely a road to more sustainable. Yet, many propose a way to sustainability is replacement of electric holiday lighting, either with LEDs or with solar powered LED lighting. I am a big fan of LEDs, making my own landscape lighting from discrete LEDs in the days before fixtures were widely available. Landscape lights are on daily for multiple hours per day all year long. I applied life-cycle thinking, making estimates on the energy used to produce incandescent bulbs and LEDs, confirming the net energy savings. I examined the economics, discovering my use pattern consumed sufficient energy for the LEDs to pay for themselves quickly.  

Holiday lighting is a very different story. Used for only about a month per year and for limited hours per day, LED economics are unfavorable. I estimate over a 25-year payback based on recent pricing. I’m willing to pay to lower my GHG footprint, but understanding my footprint requires contemplating the full life-cycle, considering the production of the lights as well as their use. GHG emissions come from energy production. Extra energy used in production of the LEDs must be compensated by energy savings during use. Making gross assumptions using published lighting life-cycle assessments gives me confidence use-phase energy savings with LEDs more than compensate for the higher production energy. I estimate the energy break-even at between 3 and 4 years. Use the lights longer than that and I’ve done better for the planet. Throw them away before that and I’d have been better off with incandescents. 

Those touting solar lights for the holidays because they won’t use electricity from the grid neglect the energy used during production, and its emissions. A positive energy return is almost impossible for a photovoltaic device used only for a month per year at the worst time of the year for solar energy. A reasonable estimate is over 20 years to breakeven on the energy , much longer than my experience indicates a consumer device coupling a photovoltaic and a battery will last.   

Our house is currently illuminated for the holidays with about 300 W of LED and incandescent lighting. No matter how I dice the detailed data provided by my utility, I can’t see a clear rise in consumption on the day we put up the lights or a drop on the day we turn them off. Normal daily variations simply swamp consumption due to holiday lighting. The GHG abatement benefit of full LED conversion is equal to about $900/ton using U.S. grid average emissions factors , estimating a 10 year life for LEDs, and the price of new LEDs, considerably more than the $10-15 cost of an emission offset .   

I am not stuck with grid average power. I purchase renewable power. I pay a premium, purchasing all of my average demand and paying less than $1.50 extra per year for all the power used for my current LED and incandescent holiday light mix. By paying more, I’m encouraging renewable power on the grid. It’s a better option than solar lighting fixtures or offsets. 

Our tree comes right from the local tree farm. The first reporting I saw comparing the sustainability of real versus artificial trees favored real , concluding it would take 20 years of artificial tree use to be more sustainable,  far less than the 6 year average artificial trees are used . That study continues to be quoted. More recent studies show the analysis hinges on disposal of the real tree, potentially reducing the breakeven to as little as 5 years. My particular use case isn’t considered in these studies, leading me to believe my breakeven is longer, closer to 10 years. Real versus artificial seems too close to definitively call.  

Now for some Grinchiness. Sustainability and excess are largely incompatible. Preserving resources for the future requires judicious use, not wasteful use. Many holiday activities are unnecessary, optional. We light up, set up and blow up things we go the rest of the year without. We have feasts far exceeding our required caloric intake. During the holiday season, remember the planet and think of future generations. Apply life-cycle thinking as you make decisions about what to do, and what not to do. Make choices that bring you joy, be mindful of the consequences, and choose more sustainable options. 

Mark Jones is a frequent speaker at a variety of industry events on industry related topics. He is a long-time supporter of ACS Industry Member Programs providing both written and webinar content, supporting the CTO Summits, and as a former member of Corporation Associates. He currently serves on the ACS Committee on Public Relations and Communications and the Chemical Heritage Landmark Committee. He is a member and former chair of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, a standing roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Mark is the author of over a dozen U.S. patents and numerous publications.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical Society.

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Green Hydrogen Breakthrough: New Catalyst Unveils the Hidden Power of Water

By The Institute of Photonic Sciences June 24, 2024

Hydrogen is a key player in the effort to decarbonize our society, but most of its production currently relies on fossil fuel-derived processes like methane reforming, which emit significant carbon dioxide. The development of green hydrogen via water electrolysis, particularly through advanced technologies like proton-exchange-membrane (PEM), is hindered by the need for rare catalysts like iridium. However, a new breakthrough by ICFO researchers using an iridium-free catalyst shows promise for sustainable and efficient green hydrogen production at industrial scales, potentially revolutionizing the field. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Researchers have developed a breakthrough iridium-free catalyst for water electrolysis, paving the way for sustainable and large-scale green hydrogen production.

Hydrogen offers significant potential as both a chemical and energy carrier for decarbonizing society. Unlike traditional fuels, using hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide. However, most hydrogen currently produced derives from methane, a fossil fuel, through a process called methane reforming, which unfortunately emits a considerable amount of carbon dioxide. Consequently, developing scalable alternatives for producing green hydrogen is essential.

Water electrolysis offers a path to generate green hydrogen which can be powered by renewables and clean electricity. This process needs cathode and anode catalysts to accelerate the otherwise inefficient reactions of water splitting and recombination into hydrogen and oxygen, respectively. From its early discovery in the late 18 th century, the water electrolysis has matured into different technologies. One of the most promising implementations of water electrolysis is the proton-exchange-membrane (PEM), which can produce green hydrogen by combining high rates and high energy efficiency.

Infograph that explains the concept of a PEM water electrolyzer, how it works, the new technique implemented by the team and the results they obtained. Credit: ICFO

To date, water electrolysis, and in particular PEM, has required catalysts based on scarce, rare elements, such as platinum and iridium, among others. Only a few compounds combine the required activity and stability at the harsh chemical environment imposed by this reaction. This is especially challenging in the case of anode catalysts, which have to operate at highly corrosive acidic environments – conditions where only iridium oxides have shown stable operation at the required industrial conditions. But iridium is one of the scarcest elements on earth.

In search of possible solutions, a team of scientists has recently taken an important step to find alternatives to iridium catalysts. This multidisciplinary team has managed to develop a novel way to confer activity and stability to an iridium-free catalyst by harnessing so far unexplored properties of water. The new catalyst achieves, for the first time, stability in PEM water electrolysis at industrial conditions without the use of iridium.

This breakthrough, published in Science , has been carried out by ICFO researchers Ranit Ram, Dr. Lu Xia, Dr. Anku Guha, Dr. Viktoria Golovanova, Dr. Marinos Dimitropoulos, Aparna M. Das and Adrián Pinilla-Sánchez, and led by Professor at ICFO Dr. F. Pelayo García de Arquer; and includes important collaborations from the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), The Catalan Institute of Science and Technology (ICN 2 ), French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Diamond Light Source , and the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM).

Dealing With the Acidity

Combining activity and stability in a highly acidic environment is challenging. Metals from the catalyst tend to dissolve, as most materials are not thermodynamically stable at low pH and applied potential, in a water environment. Iridium oxides combine activity and stability at these harsh conditions, and that is why they are the prevalent choice for anodes in proton-exchange water electrolysis.

The search for alternatives to iridium is not only an important applied challenge, but a fundamental one. Intense research on the look for non-iridium catalysts has led to new insights on the reaction mechanisms and degradation, especially with the use of probes that could study the catalysts during operation combined with computational models. These led to promising results using manganese and cobalt oxide-based materials, and exploiting different structures, composition, and dopants, to modify the physicochemical properties of the catalysts.

While insightful, most of these studies were performed in fundamental not-scalable reactors and operating at softer conditions that are far from the final application, especially in terms of current density. Demonstrating activity and stability with non-iridium catalysts in PEM reactors and at PEM-relevant operating conditions (high current density) had to date remained elusive.

From left to right: Lu Xia, Ranit Ram and Anku Guha, in the lab with the device. Credit: ICFO

To overcome this, the ICFO, ICIQ, ICN 2 , CNRS, Diamond Light Source, and INAM researchers came up with a new approach in the design of non-iridium catalysts, achieving activity and stability in acid media. Their strategy, based on cobalt (very abundant and cheap), was quite different from the common paths.

“Conventional catalyst design typically focuses on changing the composition or the structure of the employed materials. Here, we took a different approach. We designed a new material that actively involves the ingredients of the reaction (water and its fragments) in its structure. We found that the incorporation of water and water fragments into the catalyst structure can be tailored to shield the catalyst at these challenging conditions, thus enabling stable operation at the high current densities that are relevant for industrial applications,” explains Professor at ICFO, García de Arquer. With their technique, consisting in a delamination process that exchanges part of the material by water, the resulting catalyst presents as a viable alternative to iridium-based catalysts.

A New Approach: The Delamination Process

To obtain the catalyst, the team looked into a particular cobalt oxide: cobalt-tungsten oxide (CoWO 4 ), or in short CWO. On this starting material, they designed a delamination process using basic water solutions whereby tungsten oxides (WO 4 2- ) would be removed from the lattice and exchanged by water (H 2 O) and hydroxyl (OH – ) groups in a basic environment. This process could be tuned to incorporate different amounts of H 2 O and OH – into the catalyst, which would then be incorporated into the anode electrodes.

The team combined different photon -based spectroscopies to understand this new class of material during operation. Using infrared Raman and x-rays, among others, they were able to assess the presence of trapped water and hydroxyl groups, and to obtain insights on their role in conferring activity and stability for water splitting in acid. “Being able to detect the trapped water was really challenging for us,” continues leading co-author Dr. Anku Guha. “Using Raman spectroscopy and other light-based techniques we finally saw that there was water in the sample. But it was not “free” water, it was confined water”; something that had a profound impact on performance.

ICFO family picture: from left to right: F. Pelayo García de Arquer, Marinos Dimitropoulos, Lu Xia, Aparna M. Das, Viktoria Holovanova, Anku Guha, and Ranit Ram. Credit: ICFO

From these insights, they started working closely with collaborators and experts in catalyst modeling. “The modeling of activated materials is challenging as large structural rearrangements take place. In this case, the delamination employed in the activation treatment increases the number of active sites and changes the reaction mechanism rendering the material more active. Understanding these materials requires a detailed mapping between experimental observations and simulations,” says Prof. Núria López from ICIQ. Their calculations, led by a leading co-author Dr. Hind Benzidi, were crucial to understand how the delaminated materials, shielded by water, were not only thermodynamically protected against dissolution in highly acidic environments, but also active.

But, how is this possible? Basically, the removal of tungsten-oxide leaves a hole behind, exactly where it was previously located. Here is where the “magic” happens: water and hydroxide, which are vastly present in the medium, spontaneously fill the gap. This in turn shields the sample, as it renders the cobalt dissolution an unfavorable process, effectively holding the catalyst components together.

Then, they assembled the delaminated catalyst into a PEM reactor. The initial performance was truly remarkable, achieving higher activity and stability than any prior art. “We increased five times the current density, arriving to 1 A/cm 2 – a very challenging landmark in the field. But, the key is, that we also reached more than 600 hours of stability at such high density. So, we have reached the highest current density and also the highest stability for non-iridium catalysts,” shares leading co-author Dr. Lu Xia.

“At the beginning of the project, we were intrigued about the potential role of water itself as the elephant in the room in water electrolysis,” explains Ranit Ram, first author of the study and instigator of the initial idea. “No one before had actively tailored water and interfacial water in this way.” In the end, it turned out to be a real game-changer.

Even though the stability time is still far from the current industrial PEMs, this represents a big step towards making them not dependent on iridium or similar elements. In particular, their work brings new insights for water electrolysis PEMs design, as it highlights the potential to address catalyst engineering from another perspective; by actively exploiting the properties of water.

Towards the Industrialization

The team has seen such potential in the technique that they have already applied for a patent, with the aim of scaling it up to industry levels of production. Yet, they are aware of the non-triviality of taking this step, as Prof. García de Arquer notices: “Cobalt, being more abundant than iridium, is still a very troubling material considering from where it is obtained. That is why we are working on alternatives based on manganese, nickel, and many other materials. We will go through the whole the periodic table, if necessary. And we are going to explore and try with them this new strategy to design catalysts that we have reported in our study.”

Despite the new challenges that will for sure arise, the team is convinced of the potential of this delamination process and they are all determined to pursue this goal. Ram, in particular, shares: “I have actually always wanted to advance renewable energies because it will help us as a human community to fight against climate change. I believe our studies contributed one small step in the right direction.”

Reference: “Water-hydroxide trapping in cobalt tungstate for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis” by Ranit Ram, Lu Xia, Hind Benzidi, Anku Guha, Viktoria Golovanova, Alba Garzón Manjón, David Llorens Rauret, Pol Sanz Berman, Marinos Dimitropoulos, Bernat Mundet, Ernest Pastor, Veronica Celorrio, Camilo A. Mesa, Aparna M. Das, Adrián Pinilla-Sánchez, Sixto Giménez, Jordi Arbiol, Núria López and F. Pelayo García de Arquer, 20 June 2024, Science . DOI: 10.1126/science.adk9849

Funding: European Commission, “la Caixa” Foundation, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Fundación BBVA

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2 comments on "green hydrogen breakthrough: new catalyst unveils the hidden power of water".

Another hype that will never materialize into something we can actually buy.

Boba needs to get a life and stop being a buzzkill.

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