A new and cost-effective way to extract green hydrogen from untreated water has won the highest prize at this year’s Curtinnovation Awards, named the Griffith Hack Overall Winner.

The water electrolysis method developed by Curtin University Professor Zongping Shao and PhD candidate Ms Jiayi Tang works on unpurified water sources, including seawater. Their approach uses an alternative catalyst that costs just one tenth of existing methods and could produce green hydrogen at 60 per cent of the current cost.

Curtin Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Professor Melinda Fitzgerald congratulated the new generation of innovators.

“This year’s field of finalists was incredibly impressive, and I want to congratulate all of them for their outstanding work in trying to solve some of the world’s most difficult challenges,” Professor Fitzgerald said.

“As the global call for decarbonisation intensifies, it’s especially pleasing to see this year’s Griffith Hack Winner go to a project that is focussed on solving the energy needs of the future.

“I look forward to following Professor Shao and Ms Tang, along with all the Curtinnovation teams as they continue their journeys towards commercialisation of their fantastic innovations.”

The green hydrogen project was one of 10 bold new products and services named winners at the Curtinnovation Awards 2023 event, including a deployable sensor system capable of flying under the radar to track aircraft and satellites, a theory based chatbot designed to support mental health in young people, an AI-driven model to predict the quality of a pineapple that doesn’t damage the fruit, and a leading national education platform that is improving access to school content.

The annual Curtinnovation Awards recognise Curtin’s commitment to transforming exceptional research into new products and services that benefit the community, with leading research acknowledged across Curtin’s Faculties of Science and Engineering, Health Sciences, Business and Law and Humanities. Prizes are also awarded for the top submissions from a Curtin Entrepreneurs program graduate, the Learning and Teaching department, International or Student team, and the Trailblazer prize for the submission that can benefit the critical minerals and resources industry.

The winners from the 2023 Curtinnovation Awards include:

Griffith Hack Overall Winner – Green Hydrogen: an electrolyser to produce green hydrogen from untreated water

The two existing methods for extracting hydrogen from water have their limitations: one process requires ultrapure water and an expensive catalyst, the other requires significantly higher energy inputs for the same level of hydrogen production. Curtin researchers have created a new water electrolysis method that employs unpurified water sources, including sea water. Their approach uses an alternative catalyst that costs just one tenth of existing methods, calculated to offer up to a 38% cost saving in hydrogen production. This exciting development could be a cost effective, plentiful source of hydrogen that contributes to the achievement of global zero carbon goals.

Team: Professor Zongping Shao and Ms Jiayi Tang