Investigating freestanding energy-to-hydrogen fuel generation by solar energy absorption

About FreeHydroCells

FreeHydroCells, a multi-partner European consortium, led by University College Cork (UCC), has received nearly €3.75 million in Horizon Europe research funding for just over 3 years of exploratory activity.

If fully successful, the ambitious “high-risk/high return” project could provide a low-cost solar-to-chemical energy conversion system designed using sustainable materials. This system has the potential to significantly impact the global energy supply market and assist in urgently needed climate action.

FreeHydroCells overview

Open access

FreeHydroCells is committed to open access and all publications from the project will be made freely accessible.

Technology scale-up readiness

The envisioned proof-of-concept system will be designed, built, tested and protected in such a way as to enable a rapid scale-up if successful.

Equitable scale-up

Any potential scale-up of the system will remain as designed: cheap, reproducible, accessible, and environmentally friendly.

Public engagement

FreeHydroCells is committed to engaging with the general public for input and feedback on all outputs from the project.

Our team

The FreeHydroCells consortium includes four teams from across Tyndall National Institute and the School of Chemistry at University College Cork, Ireland who will collaborate with organisations from across Europe, including the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique et aux Energie Alternatives, France; Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy; Gesellschaft fur Angewandte Mikro und Optoelektronik mit Beschrankterhaftung GmbH, Germany; and BARDS Acoustic Science Labs, Ireland. The project’s science communication partner is UCC Academy, Ireland, who will also provide support on project management.

FreeHydroCells consortium map

Our research

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News & events

FreeHydroCells endorses SUNERGY initiative

24 May, 2023
Following FreeHydroCells' endorsement of the SUNERGY initiative, we look at the common themes and shared goals of both groups.
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Meet the Team: CEA

28 April, 2023
Estelle le Baron of CEA tells us about how the organisation's expertise plays a leading role in the FreeHydroCells project workplan, and how each team member contributes towards the project work.
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Meet the Team: AMO

5 April, 2023
We spoke to Desislava Daskalova of AMO GmbH about the team’s expertise and their role in the FreeHydroCells project.
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The story behind FreeHydroCells

24 March, 2023
In this blog post Coordinator and Lead PI of FreeHydroCells, Dr Ailbe Ó Manacháin, tells us the background story to the project becoming successfully funded under Horizon Europe.
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Q&A with Project Coordinator

26 January, 2023
To learn more about the FreeHydroCells research programme, we asked Project Coordinator Dr. Ailbe Ó’Manacháin a number of questions about the project’s goals, research questions and general work plan.
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New Horizon Europe project FreeHydroCells aims to investigate freestanding energy-to-hydrogen fuel generation by solar energy absorption

8 December, 2022
FreeHydroCells (project ID: 101084261), a multi-partner, European consortium, led by the Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork (UCC), has received nearly €3.75 million in Horizon Europe research funding for just over 3 years of exploratory activity. The project aims to contribute to renewable energy technology development to support a faster transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the EU economy by 2050.
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