Cooperative Agreement DEEE0011339

This $7,130,264 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Renewable Energy Research and Development program (CFDA 81.087) aims to further develop Avium, LLC's catalyst technology to achieve a current density of 2 A/cm2 at a voltage of 1.7 V on a 100 cm2 liquid alkaline (LA) electrolyzer. The project has three parallel tasks: (1) optimizing catalyst growth onto electrodes and LA separator for high-current density, (2) 3D-model-driven design of catalyst-coated mesh electrodes and flow elements to balance active area and mass transfer, and (3) developing an in-situ catalyst regeneration protocol to maintain a degradation rate of ≤2.1 mV/khr for a 100,000-hour lifetime at 2 A/cm2. The objectives are to develop a 15 cm2 single-cell electrolyzer at 1.95 V, a 100 cm2 single-cell electrolyzer at 1.85 V with regeneration capability, and ultimately a 100 cm2 electrolyzer achieving 2 A/cm2 at ≤1.7 V with regeneration.