SunHydrogen, the developer of a technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, has extended its sponsored research agreement with the University of Iowa through 31 August 2020. The current extension will allow the company to increase focus on its more efficient GEN 2 hydrogen production technology which is intended to reduce the cost of producing renewable hydrogen significantly.

As we are set to begin the production phase of our GEN 1 hydrogen panels, our research efforts will become increasingly focused on GEN 2. The University of Iowa has been a key and productive partner in the development of our GEN 1 panels. These three months of summer will get us closer to the final architecture for what will be a much more efficient and stable generation of our product. We will also be setting new milestones for the upcoming agreement in September. The knowledge we have gained through the GEN 1 process will accelerate our path to commercialization for GEN 2.

—Tim Young, CEO of SunHydrogen

The agreement currently covers the extensive development work to complete and commercialize the company’s GEN 2 nanoparticle hydrogen production panels that will deploy a much higher solar-to-hydrogen efficiency than GEN 1 at lower manufacturing cost. The work will continue to be led by Professor Dr. Syed Mubeen, (University of Iowa) and Dr. Joun Lee, (SunHydrogen).

The nanoparticle, structured as an autonomous nano-solar cell with catalysts, splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. Billions of the nano-solar cells are encapsulated in an array inside a square centimeter protective layer. The technology is designed to be manufactured using a low cost industrial roll-to-roll electrodeposition process.

After cells are deposited and coated in the electrodeposition process on a metal substrate, the substrate is inserted into a proprietary solar hydrogen panel design.