Dr. Ji-Hyung Han's research team at Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has secured a technology that can improve the performance and stability of direct seawater electrolysis (production of green hydrogen using seawater as an electrolyte) for the first time by completely suppressing dispersed inorganic sediment and reducing the growth rate of inorganic sediment at the electrode interface by inducing seawater acidification at the point of producing hydrogen directly from seawater.

Direct seawater electrolysis can contribute to vitalizing the hydrogen economy by enabling the production of hydrogen anywhere near the sea without restrictions on the facilities required for seawater desalination and ultra-high purity processes as it uses seawater as electrolyte.

In addition, the possibility of developing a direct seawater electrolysis stack has increased as this study suggested a method to solve the problem of inorganic sedimentation, and ocean green hydrogen is expected to be produced through the linkage system with the floating offshore wind platform.