In life, we aren’t always aware of just how far we’ve come. There are ups, downs, setbacks, losses, and breakthroughs… All of which offer valuable experiences. The same applies to science: the path is rarely linear, especially when working the way we do, collaboratively across partners from different countries.
However, there is one thing that always allows us to pause and calmly analyse that journey: the Annual Report, a document that summarises a whole year of scientific work within ASTERISK. 2025 was the year our project was “born,” and for that reason, we wanted to put special care into creating this publication.
Our first year has been tough, as most beginnings are. We’ve had to lay the groundwork for everything we want to achieve in the coming years: we analysed water at three points in the Mediterranean Sea to understand which components are present and which elements could damage our electrolyser in the future. We also confirmed that commercial seawater is very similar to the real thing, so that is what we have been using to test our electrolyser components, such as the catalysts and the membrane.
We have faced many challenges, such as the development of the Porous Transport Layer (PTL), a component highly sensitive to the salty conditions of seawater and one that is currently manufactured using materials we at ASTERISK wish to avoid at all costs. We have worked hard to prevent unwanted by-products in green hydrogen production, such as the dreaded chloride, which damages our components.
During this first year, we also took the time to think about the future and how we must scale our design so that it continues to perform its function. This is an indispensable step, allowing us to discard options that don’t convince us from the start and avoid wasting time on them. We also dedicated a significant portion of our work to testing different methods for removing impurities from seawater – always with a very clear goal: achieving circularity whenever possible, something we constantly keep in mind thanks to our sustainability-focused work package.
2025… What a year! A year we will remember fondly and that we can relive through our memories thanks to the Annual Report – an open access document, downloadable for free here.
Enjoy the read!