A Metal-organic Compound Used as Catalyst
Korea East-West Power announced on June 18 that it has developed a new catalyst to mass-produce hydrogen using carbon dioxides (CO2).
The state-run power company has been working with a research team led by professor Kim Gun-tae of the UNIST since June 2019 to develop a 10 kW hydrogen production system using carbon dioxides emitted from power plants.
The hydrogen production system using carbon dioxides generates electricity and hydrogen as hydrogen ions, which are formed in dissolution of carbon dioxide in water, generate electrochemical reactions due to a catalyst. Thus far, expensive platinum has been the most frequently used catalyst. However, the newly developed catalyst is a metal-organic compound which is as active as conventional platinum and maintains high stability in a 1,000-hour operation, the company explained.
The new catalyst can be produced in a large quantity due to its simple manufacturing process, with its price one-tenth of that of platinum catalysts, the company added.
"We have built a 1kW laboratory-scale hydrogen production system that utilizes carbon dioxide," a company official said. "We plan to verify our new technology by installing a 10 kW system that can produce 10 kW of power and 8,000 liters of hydrogen per hour at Dangjin Thermal Power Plant in early 2021."