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Pure Power Tech and UNSW Achieve Breakthrough Progress in Seawater Battery Catalyst Research

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  • Nov 10
  • 2 min read
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Sydney, Australia — November 2025


🌊 A New Step Toward Ocean-Based Energy Storage

Pure Power Tech has announced major progress in its joint research project with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), targeting the development of next-generation seawater batteries.This collaboration focuses on the creation of Fe single-atom catalysts (Fe–SAC) derived from ZIF67-based Co₃O₄ materials, designed to improve both oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions — the essential processes powering seawater battery systems.


⚗️ Research Focus

The UNSW–Pure Power Tech team is developing a bifunctional cathode catalyst with improved activity and stability, built upon the ZIF67 metal–organic framework (MOF).ZIF67 provides a porous, high–surface–area structure enriched with cobalt active sites, ideal for Fe doping and oxygen-vacancy tuning — enabling efficient charge transfer and enhanced electrochemical performance in seawater environments.


🔬 Recent Achievements

  • Successful synthesis and characterization of ZIF67 and Co₃O₄ samples using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM.

  • Identification of morphological shrinkage during calcination (from 200 nm to 10 nm), prompting detailed material diagnostics.

  • Execution of failure tree analysis to pinpoint causes such as residual solvents, furnace convection, and heating-rate sensitivity.

  • Implementation of three optimized pyrolysis programs to preserve the ZIF67 framework and enhance catalyst performance.

This experimental optimization aims to retain the dodecahedral shape and uniformity of ZIF67 while achieving high ORR/OER activity.


🔋 Next Phase of Collaboration

The next stage of the UNSW–Pure Power Tech partnership will focus on Fe atom integration into oxygen-vacancy sites within the Co₃O₄ lattice.This approach is expected to refine electronic structure, improve catalytic durability, and support prototype seawater battery testing in late 2025.


🌏 About the Collaboration

The partnership between Pure Power Tech and UNSW bridges academic research and industrial application, advancing Australia’s leadership in green energy innovation.By combining frontier materials science with scalable engineering, the project seeks to transform ocean-derived resources into sustainable energy storage solutions for a carbon-neutral future.



 
 
 

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