Category Archives: Business & Economy

GLOBAL: BUSINESS & ECONOMY: INVESTING DESTINATION: India Pips China as Most Attractive Emerging Market for Investing: Invesco Global report

As per the report, India is a better story now in terms of business and political stability.

India has overtaken China as the most attractive emerging market for investing for sovereign wealth funds in 2023 due to its solid demographics, political stability and proactive regulation, a report said on Monday.

The Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management report has captured the views of 142 chief investment officers, heads of asset classes, and senior portfolio strategists from 85 sovereign wealth funds and 57 central banks. Collectively, these institutions manage about $21 trillion in assets.

As per the report, India is a better story now in terms of business and political stability. In addition, fast-growing demographics, good regulation initiatives, and a very friendly environment for sovereign investors are the positives for the country.

“India has now overtaken China as the most attractive emerging market for investing in emerging market debt,” the report stated.

The report noted that India is among a number of countries, including Mexico and Brazil, that are benefitting from increased foreign corporate investment aimed at both domestic and international demand. This was seen as helping fund current account deficits as well as support currencies and domestic assets including debt.

In addition, India and South Korea continue to be the most attractive destinations for increasing exposure, the report noted. Going by the report, emerging markets offer a range of attractive investment opportunities in both public and private markets.

The report found inflation as the most significant short-term risk to global economic growth. This was followed by rising geopolitical risk, tight monetary policy, supply chain disruptions and impact of climate change on environment as other risks.

Central banks looking to combat yield volatility and inflation risk see gold as a safe-haven asset. This spurred record gold purchases in 2022, a trend prevailing into the first quarter of 2023, it added.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL & INDIA : SPACE TECHNOLOGY: 4th edition ‘G20 Space Economy Leaders’ Meeting (SELM) in Bengaluru: ‘Space technology has entered every household in one way or the other’

G20 Space Economy Leaders’ Meeting begins in Bengaluru.

The 4th edition of G20 Space Economy Leaders’ Meeting (SELM) commenced in Bengaluru on Thursday July 6.

This is the first face-to-face meeting under the G20 umbrella, with the previous meetings organised in virtual and hybrid formats. Heads of national space agencies from 18 of the G20 countries and nine of the 11 invited members are participating in the two-day meet whose theme is ‘Towards a New Space ERA (Economy, Responsibility, Alliance)’.

Senior representatives from 32 global industries, and 53 local industries, are also participating in the meet.

During the inauguration, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, PMO; MoES; S&T; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance & Pensions; Dep. Of Space; Dept. of Atomic Energy, said that this gathering (G20 countries along with partner countries) represents nearly two-thirds of the world’s population, the best brains across the world in the space sector, 85% of the global GDP, and 75% of the world trade.

“You are not only spearheaders, torchbearers but also opinion-makers, and I am glad that India is in a position to share its inputs with other member countries as well. The new chapter of public-private participation is going to make it a value for all of us to learn the virtues of an integrated approach. An era of partnership is in the offing. Our concerns are common and our efforts have to be common. Therefore, the time has come to carry forward the collaboration to discover wider horizons in the times to come,” Dr Singh said.

“I hardly need to reiterate the importance that space technology has gained of late across the world. Rather, I would put it in a single sentence saying that space technology has virtually entered every household in one way or the other.”

He added that every aspect of human life, be it disaster management, agriculture, education, health, navigation, defence, is connected to space technology.

G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, said the space economy is experiencing rapid growth with increasing revenues and more commercial actors entering the industry. “Studies project that space could become a trillion dollar sector in the coming decades. This exponential growth necessitates support from governments worldwide. That is why, we are discussing space as a formal element in the G20,” Mr Kanth said.

Round-table meetings for the heads of space agencies, panel discussions, bilateral meetings and a plenary session are a part of the first day of the event.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: SPACE & SPACE TECHS : The New York Times says India’s Space Programme set to ‘Transform Planet’s Connection to Final Frontier’

The article titled ‘The Surprising Striver in the World’s Space Business’ notes that India has become home to at least 140 registered space-tech start-ups.

Lauding India’s ambitious space programme, The New York Times has said the country, currently witnessing an “explosive” growth in space-tech start-ups, is set to “transform the planet’s connection to the final frontier” and can emerge as a “counterweight” to China.

“When it launched its first rocket in 1963, India was a poor country pursuing the world’s most cutting-edge technology. That projectile, its nose cone wheeled to the launchpad by a bicycle, put a small payload 124 miles above the Earth. India was barely pretending to keep up with the US and the Soviet Union. In today’s space race, India has found much surer footing,” the leading US newspaper said.

The article titled ‘The Surprising Striver in the World’s Space Business’ notes that India has become home to at least 140 registered space-tech start-ups, “comprising a local research field that stands to transform the planet’s connection to the final frontier.” “The start-ups’ growth has been explosive, leaping from five when the pandemic started. And they see a big market to serve,” the paper said.

Underscoring that India’s “importance as a scientific power” is taking centre stage, the NYT report referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State Visit to Washington last month at the invitation of President Joe Biden and the joint statement issued by the two sides said that said the two leaders “set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation.” In the joint statement, “the leaders called for enhanced commercial collaboration between the US and Indian private sectors in the entire value chain of the space economy and to address export controls and facilitate technology transfer.” The NYT report added that both the US and India “see space as an arena in which India can emerge as a counterweight to their mutual rival: China.” “One of India’s advantages is geopolitical,” the paper said as it added that Russia and China had historically offered lower-cost options for launches.

“But the war in Ukraine has all but ended Russia’s role as a competitor,” it said as it cited the USD 230 million hit British satellite start-up OneWeb took after Russia impounded 36 of its spacecraft in September. OneWeb’s next constellation of satellites was sent into orbit by India’s Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

“Likewise, the US government would be more likely to approve any American company’s sending military-grade technology through India than through China,” the NYT said.

It added that “Since June 2020, when Mr Modi announced a push for the space sector, opening it up to all kinds of private enterprise, India has launched a network of businesses, each driven by original research and homegrown talent. Last year, the space start-ups raked in USD 120 million in new investment, at a rate that is doubling or tripling annually.” The NYT report mentions Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace and aerospace manufacturer Dhruva Space.

“Skyroot and Dhruva work in the relatively sexy sectors of launch and satellite delivery, but together those account for only 8 per cent of India’s space business pie.

“A much bigger slice comes from companies that specialise in collecting data beamed by satellite,” the report said and cited the example of Bengaluru-headquartered start-up Pixxel, co-founded by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal and which has a “contract with a secretive agency within the Pentagon.” Pixxel has developed an imaging system to detect patterns on the Earth’s surface that lie outside the range of ordinary colour vision.

Describing India as a “thriving centre of innovation” and “one of the most competitive launch sites in the world”, the NYT article said space-tech start-ups are one of India’s “most sought-after sectors” for venture capital investors and their growth “has been explosive, leaping from five when the pandemic started.” Terming India’s vendor ecosystem as “staggering in size”, the NYT said years of conducting business with ISRO has created “about 400 private companies in clusters around Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and elsewhere, each devoted to building special screws, sealants and other products fit for space.” India has an abundance of affordable engineers, but their smaller salaries alone cannot beat the competition. That leaves an Indian company like Skyroot concentrating on more specialised services, the newspaper said.

Pawan Kumar Chandana, 32, Co-Founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace, anticipates a global need for 30,000 satellites to be launched this decade.

“We are more like a cab,” said Chandana, whose company charges higher rates for smaller-payload launches, while Elon Musk-owned SpaceX “is more like a bus or a train, where they take all their passengers and put them in one destination.” Dhruva Space, which deploys satellites, was India’s first space start-up. In any given month, Kranthi Chand, its head of strategy, is hardly in Hyderabad, as he spends about one week in Europe and another in the US, rounding up clients and investors, the article said.

In May, Dhruva Space announced the successful test and Space-qualification of its 3U and 6U Satellite Orbital Deployers and Orbital Link onboard ISRO’S PSLV-C55 mission.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: DEFENCE / GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS: Indian Marching Contingents of 3 Services, Military Band, Rafale Jets of IAF to take part on July 14th, French Bastille Day Parade, Paris

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will witness the event as the Chief Guest; India and France are celebrating the 25th anniversary of a strategic partnership that was launched in 1998.

Marching contingents of the three Services and a military band, making up a total of 242 personnel, will take part in the French Bastille Day parade on July 14 in Paris, while three Rafale fighter jets of Indian Air Force (IAF) will be part of the flypast as Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnesses it as the Chief Guest.

Each Service contingent will have 68 personnel while the military band will have 38 personnel, adding up to 242 personnel, the parade plan released by France shows.

Mr. Modi has accepted the invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to be the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade. An official press release from the Ministry of External Affairs had said that a contingent of the Indian Armed Forces will participate in the parade which marks “liberty, equality and fraternity”.

Mr. Modi’s visit to France also comes as India and France are celebrating the 25th anniversary of a strategic partnership that was launched in 1998. Earlier, in 2009, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh participated in the July 14 celebrations.

The visit comes amid a hectic diplomatic calendar for India and international travel for Mr. Modi as India hosts the G20 and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summits, the G7 outreach and Quad summit in May, as well as several other bilateral visits, both incoming and outgoing

In another instance, the IAF is planning to host a multilateral air exercise Tarang Shakti at the end of this year and approval from the Defence Ministry is awaited. “The plan is to invite 12 friendly foreign countries with whom we interact regularly and have a certain degree of interoperability,” a senior defence official said, adding that, of these, six countries will be with a fighter compliment while the other six would be present as observers.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: MARINE & FISHERIES: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Scientists Facilitate Successful Cultivation of Indian Pompano through Cage Fish Culture in Padhthonse Village, Udupi district

A team of scientists from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Mangaluru, has facilitated successful cultivation of Indian Pompano (Trachinotus mookalee) for the first time in Karnataka in the Swarna estuary at Padhthonse village, Udupi district, and its harvest was done from June 2 to June 26.

The pilot project began last November under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan Programme, wherein the beneficiaries got hands-on training in various aspects of cage culture.

Indian Pompano fingerlings, measuring 2-3 cm, were procured from the marine finfish hatchery of the Vishakhapatnam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI.

About 4,000 fingerlings, each weighing 3-4 gm, were released into cages at a density of 40-50 fishes per cubic metre after acclimatising them to the local condition.

The fingerlings were fed pelleted floating feed twice a day, amounting to 5% of their body weight, said a release from CMFRI-Mangaluru.

After a five-month grow-out period, the Indian Pompano was harvested in batches between June 2 and 26. The average growth observed during this period was 400-450 gm, resulting in a total harvest of 1,300 kg with survival rate of 90%.

The beneficiaries sold the harvested fish locally, fetching prices ranging from ₹450 to ₹490 per kg generating ₹6.1 lakh revenue. With expenses at ₹3.75 lakh, the net profit earned was ₹2.35 lakh in six months.

Success of the pilot would not only provide alternative livelihood for SC families, but also help other local communities. The success has demonstrated the rapid growth rate of Indian Pompano to reach the preferred table-size in six months and the favourable market demand for the same.

Cage cultivation of fish in coastal Karnataka began in 2009-10 in coastal rivers with over 900 cages being installed in estuaries till now.

The Fisheries Department, the National Fisheries Development Corporation etc., extended financial support to over 500 families. Seabass, Red Snapper and Snubnose Pompano were among the species grown in cages.

The research programme was led by A.P. Dineshbabu and his team of scientists comprising Sujitha Thomas, Geetha Sasikumar, Rajesh K. M., and Divya Viswambharan.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS /CRICKET: INDIAN ORIGIN: From Marketing to being Holland’s Matchwinner, Andhra-born Anil Teja Nidamanuru hopes to play World Cup in India

The right-hand batter from Vijayawada hopes his team qualifies for the World Cup so that he can play in India with his family members watching him from the stands.

Chasing a mammoth target of 375 against West Indies in their ICC World Cup Qualifier match in Harare on Monday, the Netherlands were 170/4 after 29.1 overs when skipper Scott Edwards joined Anil Teja Nidamanuru in the middle.

Born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, Anil then stitched together a 143-run partnership with his captain for the fourth wicket. The 28-year-old Anil might have lost his wicket before the Netherlands shocked the two-time world champions in a Super Over thriller but it was his quickfire hundred (111 off 76 balls, 11×4, 3×6), which is also the fastest ODI century by a Dutch player, that kept his team in the match.

Having played 16 ODIs for the Dutch side so far, Anil must have enjoyed the latest innings the most. The win could act as a catalyst for the team as the Netherlands now have a realistic chance of making it to the World Cup scheduled in India in October-November this year. And Anil would definitely want that to happen as he wants to exhibit his skills in a country where it all started more than two decades ago.

“It will be a dream come true to come to India and play. India loves cricketers, it’s a part of their culture. It would mean everything to me, especially with my family in attendance. Having them at the ground would be nicer,” the right-hand batter told this daily from Harare after his team’s memorable victory.

With his mother Padmavathi Pallekona studying and working in Singapore, Anil grew up at his grandparents’ home in Vijayawada.

“My grandfather Pitchia Shastri bought me the first cricket bat there (Vijayawada) and encouraged me to play. When I was six, my mother got a job in Auckland and we both moved to New Zealand. Say it a coincidence, my mother’s hospital where she got the job was next to Cornwall Cricket Club, the venue where Kiwi greats like Martin Crowe and Mark Greatbatch honed their talent. I also started training there once we settled in Auckland.”

Anil played age-group cricket in the city before making his List A debut for Auckland Aces at the age of 23 in 2018. He also went on to play T20 and one-dayers for the team but given the tough competition, he could never become the permanent fixture of the team.

“I worked very hard to get into that team but never managed to cement my place. The best way to continue playing cricket was to go abroad so I started playing as an overseas professional for clubs in England. The weather permitted me to do so as when it was winter in New Zealand, it was summer in England. So in that way, I could play cricket throughout the year.”

‘Played cricket after working 40 hours a week’

However, by then Anil, who also bowls right-arm off-break, has started looking for a full-time contract. He had two options back then — either move to Ireland or Netherlands.

“In 2019, I decided to go to the Netherlands for six months. But the stint which was supposed to be of six months extended as I got a job in the marketing department of a technology company. My initial aim was to live and work hard but somewhere back in my mind there was always that dream of playing cricket. Work was the driving force but cricket was my passion. So despite working 40 hours a week, I started doing fitness training in the morning and cricket training in the evening after work.”

The hard work paid off as he made his international debut against West Indies in an ODI on May 31 last year. His team might have lost the match but Anil scored an unbeaten 58 to impress all and sundry.

“The team management is very understanding. They are very supportive as they let me work as well as play. I know hard work is the only option so I make maximum use of time I have after work. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Netherlands coaches, support staff and everyone associated with the game in the country. The coaches especially head coach Ryan Cook take time out for me so that I can do one-on-one quality training. The trainers, the support staff they all are very supportive.”

Speaking on the game plan while chasing the improbable total against the mighty West Indies, Anil said, “Chasing 375, there is only one way to play. The openers gave us a good platform. Given the momentum we had, we just have to be positive. As far as I was concerned, my strategy was to be positive for the first 2-3 balls of every over. The icing on the cake is the Super Over win. It really means a lot as a century wouldn’t have made me happy had we lost the game. Credit goes to the boys, the coaching and support staff.”

‘Kohli, a role model on and off the field’

Like many players across the globe, Anil is a big fan of India’s star batter, Virat Kohli.

“Of course, it has to be Kohli for a number of reasons. I have scored only two international centuries so far but here is he who has scored more than 70 hundreds. I really loved the way he goes about his game. We played against him in the T20 World Cup in Australia. I was amazed at how he constructed his innings. Besides, the way he carries himself off the field. He is fully professional and a fitness freak. Basically a role model both on and off the field.”

Anil tries to visit India at least once a year but his work and cricket commitments mean he is forced to miss the trip quite often. The last time he visited the country was in March 2021.

“My grandfather passed away five years ago but my grandmother still lives there. I really hope we make it to the World Cup so that I come to India and play with my grandmother and family members watching me from the stands,” signed off Anil.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

WORLD: HEALTH & SCIENCE: PM Modi’s ‘Yoga Day Event’ at UN HQ Creates Guinness World Record

The Yoga Day event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday created a Guinness world record.

The Yoga Day event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday created a Guinness World Record for seeing the participation of most nationalities in a Yoga session.

PM Modi – who arrived in the US on Tuesday night (IST) at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, led the historic event at the UN headquarters to commemorate the 9th International Yoga Day. The PM was joined by the President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korisi, deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The event also saw several other UN officials, diplomats, and prominent personalities.

Sporting a customised white yoga T-shirt and trousers, PM Modi thanked the people for attending the celebration. “I’m delighted to see you all. And I thank you all for coming. Friends. I’m told that almost every nationality is represented here today,” he said.

Yoga Day event in Surat sets new Guinness World Record

Earlier in the day, the Yoga Day event organised in Gujarat’s Surat set a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering for a yoga session in one place with 1.53 lakh people joining the program. The previous world record was set in 2018 in Kota city of Rajasthan when 1,00,984 people participated in a Yoga Day session in one place.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INDIA IN THE WORLD: India Gifts Missile Corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam

Rajnath Singh holds talks with visiting Vietnamese counterpart .

India gifted the indigenously-built in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam to enhance that country’s naval capabilities. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced this on June 19 after bilateral talks with his visiting Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Gang.

“Progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives was reviewed during the meeting, with both sides expressing satisfaction at the ongoing engagements,” a Defence Ministry statement said on the talks, stating that the two Ministers had focussed on enhancing cooperation between defence industries of both countries, and maritime security.

Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation, the Ministry said. As part of his engagements, General Phan also visited headquarters of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and discussed ways to enhance “defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in defence research and joint production”.

Earlier in the day, General Gang laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and was later given a Tri-Service guard of honour. He arrived in India on June 18 on a two-day visit.

INS Kirpan is a Khukri class missile corvette displacing 1,350 tonnes and was commissioned into the Navy on January 12, 1991. It has a displacement of close to 1,400 tonnes, a length of 91 metres, a beam of 11 metres, and is capable of speed in excess of 25 knots. The ship is fitted with a medium range gun, 30 mm close range guns, chaff launchers, and surface to surface missiles, enabling it to perform a wide variety of roles, including coastal and offshore patrol, coastal security, surface warfare, anti-piracy, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, according to the Navy.

In June 2022, India and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support in the presence of the two Defence Ministers during Mr. Singh’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation, and the two Defence Ministers signed the “Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam defence partnership towards 2030”, which the Ministry had said would significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation.

Hanoi has procured 12 high speed patrol boats for the Vietnamese border guard force under a $100 million Line of Credit (LoC) extended in September 2014. In 2016, India extended another $500 million defence LoC, and discussions are under way to identify the equipment.

India has also announced gifting two simulators and monetary grant towards the setting up of a Language and IT Lab at the Air Force Officers Training School for capacity building in the Vietnamese armed forces.

India and Vietnam have shared a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2016 and defence cooperation is a key pillar of this partnership. Vietnam is an important partner in India’s ‘Act East’ policy and the Indo-Pacific vision, the statement added.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / CINEMA: Anurag Kashyap named ‘Head of the Jury for Official Competition Category’ of ’70th Sydney Film Festival’

Anurag will be joined by Mia Wasikowska, Dorothee Wenne, Larissa Behrendt and Visakesa Chandrasekaram as fellow jury members.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose film Kennedy received a seven-minute standing ovation at the 76th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, has been named the head of the jury for the ongoing 70th Sydney Film Festival’s Official Competition category.

“The ultimate film fan long weekend continues!🍿 The Official Competition jury and filmmakers galore made their way to @statetheatreau for screenings. Meanwhile, The Hub was buzzing all day and night with talks and a special party with our friends Discoteca Tropical🥳,” the official Twitter handle of the festival wrote, sharing photos of the jury members on Monday.

Actor Mia Wasikowska (Australia), film curator-journalist Dorothee Wenne (Germany), writer-director Larissa Behrendt (Australia) and filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (Australia/Sri Lanka) are part of the jury that Anurag heads.

They will be judging the 12 films shortlisted for the Official Competition category. These films celebrate “courageous, audacious and cutting-edge cinema”, according to the festival organisers. The best film in this category will win a AUD 60,000 cash prize. Sydney Film Festival also presents eight other cash awards over the course of the festival.

Written and directed by Anurag, Kennedy will also be screened at the 70th Sydney Film Festival. Itwas the first Indian film that was screened at the midnight section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Anurag had previously presented films such as Raman Raghav 2.0, Ugly, Bombay Talkies and the two-part gangster drama Gangs of Wasseypur at the Cannes Film Festival.

Starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone, Kennedy is based on an insomniac cop who dwells in different circumstances while looking for redemption.

The film festival that began on June 7 will conclude on June 18.

source/contents: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: GREEN ENERGY : IIT-Madras Generates Hydrogen from Seawater using Solar Energy

The researchers have optimised all the parameters so that water electrolyte can directly use photovoltaic-derived voltage and current density to split water and generate hydrogen.

Researchers from the Department of Physics at IIT-Madras have developed critical components for a highly efficient, cost-effective way to electrolyze seawater to generate hydrogen. The results were published in the journal ACS Applied Energy Materials.

State-of-the-art alkaline water electrolyser technology is energy-intensive, requires an expensive oxide-polymer separator, and uses fresh water for electrolysis. The IIT-Madras team led by Dr. Ramaprabhu Sundara has addressed each of these challenges by developing simple, scalable and cost-effective alternatives that are highly efficient in splitting seawater and generating hydrogen. 

In place of pure or fresh water, the team has developed an electrolyser using alkaline seawater. They used a carbon-based support material for the electrodes instead of metals to almost eliminate the possibility of corrosion. They also designed and developed transition metal-based catalysts that can catalyse both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions. The catalyst enhances the production of both hydrogen and oxygen even when impurities and chemical deposition on one of the electrodes takes place. Also, the researchers have developed a cellulose-based separator that is very economical and serves the purpose of allowing hydroxide ions to pass through but prevents oxygen and hydrogen that are generated from crossing-over. Finally, the researchers have optimised all the parameters such that the water electrolyser can directly use photovoltaic-derived voltage to split seawater and generate green hydrogen and oxygen, oxygen can be used elsewhere.

The reactions

Alkaline water electrolyser consists of two half-reactions occurring at the anode and cathode. At the cathode, water dissociates into H+ and hydroxide ions, and the H+ ions get converted into hydrogen. The hydroxide ions produced at the cathode permeate through the separator and oxygen is generated at the anode.

When seawater is used for electrolysis, hypochlorite formation occurs at the anode. Hypochlorite is responsible for corrosion of the electrode support material, and competes with the oxygen evolution reaction thus reducing the amount of oxygen produced. At the cathode, the hydrogen evolution reaction is slowed down when several impurities get adsorbed on the electrode surface.

The electrodes have a support material that is coated with a catalyst. “Since conventional metal support materials get easily corroded when seawater is used, we developed a carbon-based support material,” says Prof. Sundara. “The support material is used in both the anode and cathode, and is coated with the catalyst. The catalyst allows enhanced and simultaneous production of hydrogen at the cathode and oxygen at the anode.”

According to Prof. Sundara, the transition bimetals present in the catalyst are more selective towards oxygen evolution reaction than hypochlorite formation. Thus the challenge of hypochlorite formation reducing oxygen production is taken care of. Similarly, even while the cathode continues to adsorb impurities, the catalyst promotes the hydrogen evolution reaction, which helps in the increased production of hydrogen. 

The separator

Another unique feature is the novel separator that has been developed by the team. When alkaline electrolyte is used, the anode and cathode are separated with a separator. Since zirconium oxide-based material that is routinely used is expensive, they came up with a cellulose-based separator which allows the hydroxide ions to pass through from the cathode to the anode. But it minimises the crossover of hydrogen and oxygen that is generated.

“We found our separator is highly resistant to seawater degradation,” says Sana Fathima, one of the co-authors of the paper.

“Using the assembled electrolyser, we have demonstrated an overall seawater splitting voltage of 1.73 V at 10 mA/sq.cm (a benchmark current density corresponding to about 12% efficient solar-to-fuel conversion device under 1 sun illumination) at 26 degrees C,” says Anamika Ghosh from IIT Madras and the first author of the paper. “We have optimised all the parameters such that the water electrolyser can directly use photovoltaic-derived voltage and work at 10mA/sq.cm current density to split seawater for green hydrogen production.” 

The team has developed two prototypes of different dimensions to assess the viability of the catalysts. “In the case of the smaller electrolyser (16 sq.cm dimension) hydrogen is produced at a rate of 250 ml per hour, while in the larger one (391 sq.cm dimension) hydrogen is produced at a rate of about one litre per hour at an applied voltage of 2 V,” Ms. Ghosh says. “We also fabricated a stack consisting of three such cells and hydrogen produced is about four litres per hour at an applied voltage of 2 V per cell.” All the measurements were done at ambient pressure and room temperature. 

“All the cells have shown a shelf-life of more than six months, and the study is continuing,” says Ms. Fathima.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)