The French start-up Nawa specializes in carbon-based nanomaterials. His team has identified a solution to lower the costs of hydrogen fuel cells while making them more efficient.
After the solution for storing hydrogen in solid form rewarded with the 2023 European Inventor Prize, we cannot say that French scientists are idle. Research into the exploitation of this energy source has accelerated in recent years, but faces numerous obstacles: difficulty in gas extraction, storage, transport, establishment of distribution infrastructure, cost production, etc. Among these many technical obstacles, the high cost of the materials necessary for the proper functioning of hydrogen fuel cells is another.
It is on this precise point that Nawa focused and succeeded in developing a revolutionary nanostructured electrode, a design which has great advantages.
The NAWATROde-FC, an innovative electrode
To put it simply, for a hydrogen fuel cell to be effective, its two electrodes must, among other things, be efficient. To promote catalysis in the electrodes, most battery manufacturers use a metal, placed in a very thin layer on them: platinum. A rare and very expensive material.
This is where Nawa takes a completely different approach by developing a fully nanostructured electrode based on 3D nanocarbon and nanoplatinum. There is still platinum in the structure, but in less quantity and used much more optimally.
Nawa has named this electrode NAWATROde-FC, and it would provide 20% more efficient performance than a traditional battery design. The efficiency of catalysis is thus greatly improved by increasing the contact surface between platinum and the reagents, a characteristic enabled by nanostructuring.
Innovative manufacturing for reduced costs
The enormous advantage of this design also lies in its method of manufacture. Nawa has succeeded in producing this new type of electrode in roll form. This is completely new in the industry and would greatly facilitate the hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing process. Greater ease of construction necessarily means lower costs.
Since October 2023, Nawa has been acquired by Kouros, an industrial investment company entirely dedicated to the energy transition. Very significant financial support, which will allow Nawa to begin marketing its NAWATROde-FC on a large scale from 2026.
Source : H2 Mobile
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