Nuclear Research Institute Develops 'Water Electrolysis Composite New Material' to Improve Tritium Separation Performance

A highly efficient new material for water electrolysis, effective in separating and concentrating tritium, has been developed domestically. Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen and a representative radioactive substance generated in nuclear power plants. The key issue is to reduce the volume of radioactive waste liquid, as its treatment and management incur high costs.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (hereinafter KAERI) announced on the 22nd that it has developed a 'water electrolysis composite new material' that dramatically improves tritium separation performance by adding a graphene thin film to the polymer electrolyte membrane, which plays the role of ion conduction, in the technology that separates tritium using water electrolysis.

Schematic Diagram and Principle of Electrolysis Technology for Tritium Separation. Provided by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute

The polymer electrolyte membrane is a membrane made of polymer compounds with electrolyte properties, which allows hydrogen ions to pass through. Graphene is one of the allotropes of carbon, consisting of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional planar structure.

Dr. Chanwoo Park’s research team from the Decommissioning Technology Development Department created a composite membrane by coating an atomically thin graphene film onto an existing polymer electrolyte membrane, and bonded electrodes on both sides for electrochemical reactions to develop a water electrolysis composite new material for tritium separation.

In this process, the research team added the graphene thin film as a filtering membrane that primarily blocks isotope ions such as tritium from moving to the electrode, maximizing the tritium separation effect.

This result was achieved by utilizing the fact that heavier atomic masses require more energy to pass through the narrow hexagonal carbon rings of the graphene thin film.

The water electrolysis composite new material developed by the research team has about 1.4 to 2 times higher tritium separation performance (based on the hydrogen-tritium separation factor) compared to existing commercial products.

Moreover, by separating and releasing hydrogen gas from tritium waste liquid using the water electrolysis composite new material, the volume of waste liquid is reduced, thereby lowering the costs of waste liquid treatment and management. The research team expects that this technology can also be applied to hydrogen isotope separation technologies used in national strategic industries such as nuclear fusion, semiconductors, and displays.

In the future, the research team plans to focus on developing a compact treatment device that maximizes tritium removal performance and radioactive waste liquid volume reduction by linking technologies to recover tritium from the discharged hydrogen gas.

Baek Minhoon, director of the Advanced Nuclear Technology Research Institute at KAERI, said, “Hydrogen isotope separation is an important foundational technology for national strategic industries and radiation safety management. The research team will continue efforts to ensure that the water electrolysis composite new material can be utilized across various industries through ongoing research and development.”

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