[20.10.2023] NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes presented a three-million-euro grant to ACTIVE SITES vice speaker Corina Andronescu for the "Natural Water to H₂" project. Within this research project, the University of Duisburg-Essen aims to achieve a breakthrough for more sustainability in hydrogen production. The Ministry of Culture and Science is funding the project as part of NRW's ´Profilbildung 2022´with three million euros for three years. In the long term, the new research profile will be located at the new ACTIVE SITES research building.

In the new research project "Natural Water to H₂" the research fields of "water research" and "hydrogen" are being brought together at the UDE. 14 research groups of the UDE and 22 associated partners from academia and industry will work together to increase the sustainability of hydrogen production through anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis. For the first time, a fundamental understanding is to be gained of how water quality, electrodes and membranes influence each other. Using organic and inorganic lead substances, it will be quantified how or to what extent water needs to be purified before and during electrolysis. ​The projects involved cover multiple disciplines including water electrolysis, electrocatalysis, water technology and purification, membrane technology, nanomaterial synthesis, surface science and theoretical chemistry.  UDE Press release