Loughborough-led hydrogen production project for a Net-Zero future | News and events

The project, titled “Thermo-responsive catalytic electrodes for alkaline water electrolysers” (THERMORE), focuses on accelerating the transition from laboratory-scale innovation to commercially viable industrial solutions. 

Led by Dr Dowon Bae’s EECS Lab at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) at Loughborough University, the project brings together academic expertise and industrial capability through partnerships with Fibretech (Pinxton, UK) and the University of Strathclyde. The Loughborough research team also includes Dr Jungmyung Kim and Dr Zakhele Ndala. 

THERMORE builds on prior work from the UKRI STFC-funded TECHydro project, which established the analytical and experimental foundations for temperature-dependent electrochemical systems.  

The new project shifts focus towards application-driven development, aiming to deliver scalable catalytic electrode materials tailored for industrial-size alkaline water electrolysers. These electrolysers are used to split hydrogen and oxygen in order to produce hydrogen for energy and industrial applications. 

A key technical challenge addressed by the project is the slow ramp-up and inefficient cold-start performance typical of alkaline electrolysers—an increasingly critical limitation as hydrogen production systems are required to respond dynamically to intermittent renewable energy inputs.

Rather than relying on energy-intensive system-level heating, the THERMORE approach leverages thermo-responsive nickel–iron (Ni–Fe) catalysts integrated directly onto nickel fibre substrates. This design improves the overall system responsiveness and efficiency. 

Scalability is a central element of the newly funded project. Catalysts will be synthesised using hydrothermal methods and applied directly to commercially available nickel fibre electrodes supplied by Fibretech. This ensures compatibility with existing manufacturing processes, enabling a smoother pathway from laboratory validation to industrial deployment. 

To support performance optimisation and durability assessment, the project will utilise advanced characterisation techniques, including Near-Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) at the Henry Royce Institute. These studies will provide detailed mechanistic insights into catalyst behaviour under realistic operating conditions, including degradation pathways, informing strategies for long-term operational stability. 

Dr Dowon Bae said of the project: “Overall, the project is expected to support efficient hydrogen production by improving responsiveness to intermittent renewable power. This is vital to the future of the energy industry.”

The THERMORE project reinforces the UK’s strategic capabilities in low-carbon energy technologies, supporting the development of next-generation hydrogen production systems aligned with net-zero targets.