Low-Cost and High-Power Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Conducting hydrogen fuel cell research in UNSW Chemistry
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Challenge
Hydrogen fuel cells are a critical technology for Australia’ s emerging hydrogen economy, offering significant decarbonisation potential for hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and heavy-duty transport.
These sectors demand high energy density and long operational lifetimes— capabilities that hydrogen fuel cells can provide with zero emissions at the point of use. However, widespread deployment has been limited by high material costs and relatively low power density compared to conventional alternatives.
Solution
To overcome the reliance on costly platinum-based catalysts, the team is developing a new generation of iron-based materials and new cell designs that offer a dramatically lowercost alternative. Iron is abundant and significantly cheaper, opening a pathway to potentially reduce fuel cell costs by up to 50 % in the long term.
Target customers / end-users
• aviation sector
• heavy-duty transportation
• Back-up power / remote bower.
Progress
• three patents filed
• more than AU $ 1.1m in research translation funding and grant support from ARC Discovery, AEA Seed and UNSW Commercialisation Seed Fund
• drone integration on the way.
Research Project
Lab validated
TRL 5
Multidisciplinary team
Climate & Clean Energy
Hydrogen fuel cells are a critical technology for Australia’ s emerging hydrogen economy, offering significant decarbonisation potential for sectors such as aviation and heavy-duty transport. However, widespread deployment has been limited by high material costs and low power density compared to batteries. These are the challenges addressed by the research team.