Chemours awarded US$60 mn grant for PEM membranes, electrolyser recycling
US chemical firm Chemours Company, which boasts market positions in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialised Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials, has announced that the US Department of Energy (DOE), under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, selected two of its applications for grants totalling US$60 million. These grants will be used by Chemours and its partners for the advancement of technology to support next-generation membranes for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis to advance a domestic hydrogen economy supply chain and establish a new recovery and recycling consortium dedicated to enabling the circularity of PEM electrolysers and fuel cells.
Chemours is the lead recipient on a project entitled “Durable, High-Performance Membranes for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis”, where the company will leverage its technical expertise to develop a low-resistance Nafion membrane that demonstrates high levels of durability in a PEM electrolyser stack.
The project’s goals include creating products that can be manufactured cost-effectively at scale, a significant challenge the hydrogen industry faces today.
Chemours was also named a project partner in H2CIRC, a new consortium dedicated to producing a blueprint for the hydrogen industry to efficiently and sustainably recover and recycle materials and components from fuel cells and electrolysers.
The grants announced by the DOE under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are part of US$750 million in funding for projects to advance hydrogen technologies and improve manufacturing and recycling capabilities for clean hydrogen systems and components.
The funding directly supports the national clean hydrogen strategy outlined in the US National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, which emphasises cost reduction, manufacturing, supply chains, and domestic jobs.
