New facilities for hydrogen research: The Faraday Lab

10-10-2019 | New Project | P2Hydrogen

Developed with 6-million-euro funding from the Dutch national scheme for Electrochemical Conversion & Materials, the new Faraday Lab in Petten is a significant extension of the facilities of TNO. It is dedicated to working on innovative solutions together with industrial partners, in the development and testing of materials and components for all relevant electrolyzer technologies: PEM, SOE, AEM and alkaline. Now one of the world's largest hydrogen test facilities and equipped with state-of-the-art hardware, the lab will officially open in February 2020.

In 2020, the VoltaChem program will start employing 4 state-of-the-art hydrogen research facilities in The Netherlands. These facilities have been developed by VoltaChem's founding father TNO and partners such as ISPT and Deltalinqs, supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. All facilities are aimed at assisting companies in their product development and implementation. The Faraday Lab in Petten facilitates small-scale research with a focus on new materials and components; the Hydrohub in Groningen focuses on large-scale stack research and materials testing; the electrolyzer and fuel cell Stack Test Center in Helmond has the ability to test the performance of large stacks (>250kW) of different suppliers; and the Field Lab Industrial Electrification in Rotterdam is dedicated to the integration of electrolyzers in an industrial environment, using hydrogen and CO₂ to make new fuels and chemicals. 

Each newsletter will showcase one of these hydrogen research facilities. This time: the Faraday Lab!

The relevance of the Faraday Lab can hardly be underestimated as the European electrolyzer market is rapidly growing towards an expected size of several hundreds of millions of euros annually. The lab's ambition is to create opportunities for Dutch and European companies and help to establish a green hydrogen industry that is able to integrate high levels of renewable electricity in the energy system, at low cost.

The Faraday Lab is the place-to-be for testing and characterization of components, cells, and stacks, at scales ranging from cm² to full-scale 50 x 50 cm cells and their use in prototype stacks. The scientists and engineers of the lab are committed to delivering results rapidly and reliably, and to developing tools (e.g., models and procedures) that enable the swift translation of experimental results into business drivers.

Joint cycle of development

The Faraday Lab will facilitate individual companies across the supply chain, from (potential) component manufacturers to producers of full electrolyzer equipment, to end-users in various sectors, e.g. energy companies and chemical companies. The lab will be focusing on projects that support a joint cycle of development in a setting of open innovation. On the one hand, these will be projects where partners bring in their knowledge on components and/or materials, while TNO serves them with expertise and facilities for integration, testing, analysis, and recommendation. On the other hand, independent research, for example in the VoltaChem shared innovation program, will also lead to new materials or components, so that projects will be established with third parties for further development and industrialization.

Faraday Lab keywords:  

• Small-cell research and screening
• Materials and components (membranes, electrodes, catalyst)
• Novel (low-cost) materials, architectures, and components
• Optimization of cell architecture and operation
• Fundamental research on degradation and material properties
• Electrochemical in-situ testing suitable for:
  • Electrolysis
  • Fundamental membrane properties
  • Ohmic resistance and protective coatings
  • Current collector design and materials

Get in touch!

Do you want to know more about our hydrogen research facilities in general, the Faraday Lab in particular or explore further the opportunities for cooperation on hydrogen within VoltaChem? Please contact our Power-2-Hydrogen business development manager Lennart van der Burg.

An impression of the Faraday Lab - Europe's largest hydrogen research facility.

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