There is no better time to visit Ljubljana than autumn! The green that covers its landscapes is completely transformed, dyeing the leaves with golden and reddish tones. The temperature is very pleasant, and everyone recommends to take this time to enjoy a good Slovenian wine. But we are not writing this post to talk about tourism in Ljubljana, right?
Last week, the entire ASTERISK team was in the town to attend our second face-to-face meeting, which marks almost a year of working together. It has been a few months since we first met in Galway (Ireland) to start working together on our goal: to design an electrolyser to produce green hydrogen using seawater.
As the project progresses, we face more and more challenges. This is completely logical: the more we learn, the more aware we become of the complexities of seawater electrolysis. That is why these face-to-face meetings are so essential: in European-funded projects, we work remotely, as our many partners are scattered across different countries. We meet online constantly, but ideas do not flow in the same way. By presenting our results in front of our colleagues, we get an excellent opportunity to share ideas and doubts, and to receive support and valuable feedback from friends and colleagues.
This time, our host was the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), who, in addition to treating us very well, has taken us on a tour of their facilities and laboratories. Within ASTERISK, JSI provides insights into what happens inside catalysts using advanced computational modelling (known as Density Functional Theory, or DFT). They also bring in an extensive expertise in developing PGM-free catalysts, which do not rely on expensive precious metals – one of ASTERISK’s core goals. In addition, JSI contributes to the scalability work in WP4, ensuring that our theoretical understanding translates into practical solutions.
During these days, we’ve had the opportunity to discuss many of the issues that define ASTERISK as a project — how to prevent corrosion in our devices due to seawater use, how to fit all the components we’re designing into the most efficient electrolyser possible, and how to analyse the useful life of our system, to name just a few examples. We also talked about how we want to communicate and make the science we do appealing through different channels. We’ll soon have lots of news to share, so stay tuned!
For now, it’s time to return to our countries and keep working, always with an eye on our next meeting, which will take place in Berlin in July!
Contact for media:
ASTERISK Press Office
Fernando Gomollón-Bel and Lucía Casas Piñeiro
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