Earth-abundant catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)
Hydrogen is a bulk chemical produced on the 107 ton/year scale but could also be a fuel of the future. Today this hydrogen is produced from methane in steam reforming. Switching the hydrogen production to a renewable resource is a challenge, but some electrolyzers produce hydrogen on a commercial scale already from electricity (electrochemically). We are developing hydrogen evolution catalysts for benign neutral conditions in order to reduce hydrogen costs to a level competitive with conventional fuels.
We develop selective and robust catalysts that electrochemically convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into sustainable chemical feedstocks and could ultimately be coupled to the recycling of environmental CO2. The catalysts employed are transition metal phosphide and their doped derivatives that form distinct crystalline structure types, enabling selection of chemical reactivity towards desired products including high molecular weight solid polymers. Selecting the catalyst’s elemental composition and crystal structure allows for tuning of the chemical, physical, and electrical properties to achieve the best match with desired product and application.
