Sweden – Smoltek Hydrogen, a division of Smoltek Nanotech Holding, has formally opened its cutting-edge hydrogen laboratory.
The H2LAB facility, housed at Smoltek’s new headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, is outfitted with cutting-edge equipment and tools for performance evaluation, long-term testing of electrolyzer cells, and internal production of test cells. In the development of Smoltek’s innovative cell material, which intends to reduce the consumption of iridium, a critical component of PEM electrolyzers, in the creation of green hydrogen, the building of this facility represents an important turning point.
Minimizing iridium use
With its innovative method, Smoltek Hydrogen hopes to dramatically minimize the need for iridium, a costly and scarce metal used in traditional electrolyzers. Smoltek Hydrogen seeks to produce substantial amounts of green hydrogen with little iridium use by enhancing the design and functionality of the electrolyzer cells.
Ellinor Ehrnberg, president of Smoltek Hydrogen, claims that the business has already shown encouraging outcomes in independent labs, reaching the needed performance with only 0.5 mg iridium/cm2. The ultimate objective is to further lower this value to only 0.1 mg iridium/cm2, which would represent a major improvement above the industry’s target of 0.8 mg iridium/cm2 by 2030. If successful, Smoltek’s invention could possibly save 5 tons of iridium yearly, resulting in significant cost savings and assisting in the development of a more environmentally friendly and commercially viable method of producing green hydrogen.
H2LAB
With the opening of H2LAB, Smoltek Hydrogen now has a dedicated area for research and development that enables it to test electrolyzer cells over an extended period of time and perform extensive performance evaluations. The ability of the lab to produce test cells on-site will also hasten the evaluation of various volume production strategies. Smoltek’s dedication to developing the field of green hydrogen technology and encouraging innovation in the quest for a cleaner, greener future is demonstrated by this significant investment in research facilities.
