The objective of HIGHLANDER is to develop membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for Heavy-Duty Vehicles (HDV) with disruptive, novel components, targeting stack cost and size, durability, and fuel efficiency. The project will design, fabricate, and validate the HDV MEAs at cell and short stack level against heavy-duty relevant accelerated stress test and load profile test protocols. The unique approach of HIGHLANDER is to develop core fuel cell components in tandem, ensuring their greatest compatibility and lowest interface resistance: ionomer and reinforcement, catalyst and catalyst support, catalyst layer composition and property gradient in tune with the bipolar plate flow-field geometry. Materials screening efforts will be supported by the development and use of improved predictive degradation models bridging scales from reaction sites to cell level. Model parameterisation is implemented using experimental characterisation data at materials, component, and cell level. HIGHLANDER brings together a European supply chain of fuel cell materials and components producers and an OEM stack developer that makes this approach possible. HIGHLANDER aims to bring about a significant reduction in stack cost and fuel consumption through improvement of catalyst coated membrane performance and development of a new, lower cost single-layer gas diffusion layer. It will aim to achieve the 1.2 W/cm² at 0.65 V performance target at 0.3 g Pt/kW or below, meeting a lifetime target of 20,000 h. Sustainability considerations include benchmarking of fluorine-free membranes for HDV MEA application and re-use of platinum in the context of a circular economy.

Water electrolysis supplied by renewable energy is the foremost technology for producing “green” hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles. The ability to follow rapidly an intermittent load makes this an ideal solution for grid balancing. To achieve large-scale application of PEM electrolysers, a significant reduction of capital costs is required together with a large increase of production rate and output pressure of hydrogen, while assuring high efficiency and safe operation. To address these challenges, a step-change in PEM electrolysis technology is necessary. The NEPTUNE project develops a set of breakthrough solutions at materials, stack and system levels to increase hydrogen pressure to 100 bar and current density to 4 A cm-2 for the base load, while keeping the nominal energy consumption <50 kWh/kg H2. The rise in stack temperature at high current density will be managed by using Aquivion® polymers for both membrane and ion exchange resin. Aquivion® is characterised by enhanced conductivity, high glass transition temperature and increased crystallinity. Dramatic improvements in the stack efficiency will be realised using novel thin reinforced membranes, able to withstand high differential pressures. An efficient recombination catalyst will solve any gas crossover safety issues. Newly developed electro-catalysts with increased surface area will promote high reaction rates. The novel solutions will be validated by demonstrating a robust and rapid-response electrolyser of 48 kW nominal capacity with a production rate of 23 kg H2/day. The aim is to bring the new technology to TRL5 and prove the potential to surpass the 2023 KPIs of the MAWP 2017. The proposed solutions contribute significantly to reducing the electrolyser CAPEX and OPEX costs. The project will deliver a techno-economic analysis and an exploitation plan to bring the innovations to market. The consortium comprises an electrolyser manufacturer, suppliers of membranes, catalysts and MEAs and an end-user.

The objective is to develop and integrate the most advanced critical PEMFC stack components, many from recent FCH JU programmes, into an automotive stack showing BOL performance of 1.5 W/cm2 at 0.6V, <10% power degradation after 6,000 hours, with a technical and economic assessment showing a cost of less than €50/kW at a 50,000 annual production scale. This will be achieved by leading industrial and academic partners with expertise in the design and manufacture of PEMFC stacks, their components and materials. They will select and build on components which can achieve key target metrics, e.g. catalyst materials showing mass activities of 0.44 A/mg Pt. There will be focus on integration of the key components and optimisation of the interfaces regarding the electrochemistry, mass and heat transport, and mechanical interactions. Several iterations of an advanced stack design will be evaluated. Work is organised to optimise the flow of development, which begins with catalysts being advanced and down-selected, scaled then fed into the design and development of catalyst layers, integration with membranes and the demonstration of CCM performance. The CCMs feed into stack component development where they will be integrated with GDLs to form MEAs; and where bipolar plates will be designed and developed and supplied with the MEAs for iterative stack design, assembly and testing. All mandatory and optional objectives of the FCH 2 JU Work Plan are addressed. Performance and durability are evaluated from small single cell to stack level using standardised test protocols. Degradation is addressed by stability testing, structural visualisation and modelling. Interfaces and specification alignment is an important focus, being integrated with the evaluation of new architectures and synthesis methods and informing balance of plant component specifications. Dismantling and recycling for the recovery and re-use of all critical MEA components is included in the costing evaluation.

The main objective of the RODEO project is to propose a lightweight robotized orbital drilling equipment, and associated operating conditions and tools, to enable the drilling of tightly spaced small diameter holes in aluminium with the control of induced residual stresses. This will be accomplished by: - modelling the phenomena involved in orbital drilling that impact residual stresses - developing a combined drilling and burnishing tool and associated operating conditions to attain required residual stresses - pursuing the development of a high-speed orbital drilling unit (existing in the consortium) capable to drive the tool in the prescribed conditions - integrating the developed orbital drilling unit on a lightweight industrial robot - defining the operating conditions of the lightweight robot to be used to ensure the drilling operation To reach this objective, numerical simulation tools (already developed in the consortium) will be used to pursue the study and determine the mechanisms modifying the properties of the material during orbital drilling, and the impact on fatigue life (including the influence of a fastener). As a result, solutions to increase residual stresses in aluminium holes will be suggested in terms of cutting conditions, tool geometry and holemaking strategy (including burnishing). From this, an innovative orbital drilling tool, combining cutting and burnishing active parts will be developed and associated operating conditions will be proposed. To drive this tool along the expected trajectory with the required speeds, the development of a high-speed orbital drilling unit (provided by PRECISE) will be pursued. This will require the adaptation of the equipment to allow burnishing, and the integration of monitoring devices for cutting forces, spindle speed, feed speeds measurements. The orbital drilling unit will be handled by a lightweight industrial robot that will permit to drill holes without the need of a drill jig, allowing the drilli