LAFAYETTE, La (KLFY) — The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance clean hydrogen technologies, according to a press release from Senator Bill Cassidy.
With the grant, ULL will develop high-performance metal-supported solid oxide electrolysis cells and innovative diagnostic methodologies to achieve net-zero or negative emissions.
This is one of 31 projects using the nation’s fossil fuel and power infrastructure for decarbonized energy and commodity production through the development of technologies for the production, transport, storage, and utilization of fossil-based hydrogen.
The ULL team plans to fabricate metal-supported solid oxide electrolysis cells (MS-SOECs) to improve the electrolysis performance while maintaining mechanical strength for the stack assembly; develop accelerated test protocols for SOECs and apply theoretical analysis to improve its stability and suppress oxygen electrode declamation; and use machine learning to study the dependence of electrochemical performance on microstructural details of an electrode
Hydrogen is a clean fuel that – when combined with oxygen in a fuel cell – produces electricity with water and heat as by-products. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option and input for transportation, electricity generation, and industrial applications, such as in trucks, buildings, and manufacturing.
