Research & Innovation
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is well recognized as one of the technologies in the green solution technologies to guarantee the complete decarbonization of economy and ensuring the lower cost of investment for the energy transition.
Hydrogen is well recognized as one of the technologies in the green solution technologies to guarantee the complete decarbonization of economy and ensuring the lower cost of investment for the energy transition.
Hydrogen is a block-chain technology, where all blocks must be simultaneously developed and deployed to produce an effective impact as decarbonization solutions. The three main blocks of application are production, handling and utilization and the HyRES Unit as it is involved in all of them with the main objective to boost the deployment of H2 in Hard-To-Abate, heavy-duty mobility and power generation application.
Applications
H2 Production
The Center has a strong experience with all low- and high-temperature electrolysis technologies (PEM, Alk, AEM, SOE), from low to higher TRL.
The Center masters the use of innovative and advanced materials, the component development and system design and can validate technologies at the relevant industrial scale
The Center has experience in technologies for cracking and reforming biomethan.
Logistics and storage
In terms of logistics and storage with are studying key techniques for distribution and implementing the use of ammonia, through gas grid and check the asset readiness.
We research on Hydrogen storage from small to large scales, from solid-state to underground.
End uses
The Center is involved in the development of technologies for railway sector, heavy duty vehicles as well as HRS, Hard to abate sector, e.g., refineries, steel making, ammonia, paper, cement, ceramic, glass.
We have excellent experience with fuel cell, and we are involved in territorial ecosystems.
Within each of the three applications, HyRES Unit has FOUR RESEARCH LINES:
- Development of new technologies and layouts integration
- Improvement of performance and durability of technologies while lowering the cost of subcomponents
- Advance controls and mitigation strategies
- Support deep decarbonization through assessment of hydrogen policies and scenarios as well as the involvement in the definition of policies
Expertise
In each research line, we have some crucial area of expertise where we also offer our services:
We have a strong experience in dynamic modelling and
elaboration of scenarios.
We offer the opportunity to improve and optimize systems and industrial processes through numerical modeling by using software such as Modelica and proprietary code.
We are involved in analysis on supply chain and territorial projects with TEA and LCA assessments.
We contribute to the development of policies for local, national and European institutions.
We offer multidisciplinary competences in design and development of complete control systems (electronics, telecommunications, fluid dynamics, mechanics).
We help partners in the management of industrial safety of machines and systems (IEC61508, EN62061 and SILs)
Our laboratory specializes in the comprehensive characterization of novel materials, employing advanced techniques to determine physical and chemical properties both of virgin materials and in post-mortem. We offer services encompassing morphological analysis, thermal behavior, mechanical strength, chemical composition, gas and liquid analysis
In our laboratory we implement electro-chemical and mechanical testing of new prototypes for hydrogen production
Publications
Bartali, R. Valentini, D., Piazzi, S., Cordioli, E., Baratieri, M., Bolognese, M., Pratticò, L., D’Souza, D., González-Aguilar, J., Romero, M., Cosera, G., Crema, L. (2024). Modelling a hydrogen production system using solar hierarchical volumetric receivers and a steam gasification reactor. Sustainable Energy Fuels, 9, 513-526.
DOI: 10.1039/D4SE00779D
Robino, M., Fici, S., Guzzini, A., et al (2025). Development of testing protocols for the measurement of pure and blended hydrogen in natural gas grids: An outlook from the THOTH2 project. Measurement: Sensors, 2025, 101610, ISSN 2665-9174, DOI: 10.1016/j.measen.2024.101610
Cordioli, E., de Maigret, J., Testi, M., Crema, L. (2025). Green hydrogen in the Alps: Mapping local stakeholders perspectives and identifying opportunities for decarbonization, Energy Reports, Volume 14, Pages 128-140, ISSN 2352-4847, DOI: 10.1016/j.egyr.2025.06.001
A. Ganjovi, R. Bartali, G. Speranza, R. Dell’Anna, G. Gottardi, E. Missale, N. Laidani. (2025). Method for hydrogen production by methane cracking using vacuum plasma, Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 512, 132393, DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2025.132393
H. Namdar, E. Crespi, N. Laidani, G. Gamba, M. Testi (2025). Fabrication of Sulfonated Poly Ether Ether Ketone Membranes Reinforced With PEEK Meshes: Mos2 Sputtering to Enhance Functional Properties for PEM Water Electrolysis Application, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Volume 142, Issue 30. DOI: 10.1002/app.57236
H. Namdar, E. Crespi, A. Bisello, G. Speranza, G. Gottardi, N. Laidani, G. Gamba, M. Testi (2025). Performance of catalyst coated sulfonated poly ether ether ketone membrane in PEM water electrolysis: effects of membrane modification by inclusion of MoS2-coated carbon nanotubes. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Volume 130, Pages 324-336. DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.04.365
Chandrakanth Reddy Chandraiahgari, Gottardi Gloria, Dalessandro Domenico, Speranza Giorgio, Muzzi Beatrice, Pedrielli Andrea, Micheli Victor, and Testi Matteo (2025). Dry Plasma Synthesis of Nanohybrids and Nanofluids for Water Electrolysis: Toward CRMFree, Green and Efficient Catalytic Materials. International School of Electrocatalysis 2025 (ISECAT2025), July 2025. Conference Proceedings. Book of abstract at this link.
European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025, September 2025. Conference Proceedings
- Elena Crespi, Giulia Di Gregorio, Takwa Cheraiet, Matteo Testi (2025). On the effects of platinization of commercial titanium Porous Transport Layers in PEM water electrolysis cells. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Giuseppe Sassone, Elena Crespi, Simone Zottele, Matteo Testi (2025). Impact of Porous Transport Layer Microstructure on Oxygen Transport in a PEM Electrolyzer. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Valentina Prusakova, Giulia Di Gregorio, Matteo Testi, Tommaso Caielli, Alessandro Ferrari, Simone Zottele, Takwa Cheraiet, Sara Ferrari, and Piercarlo Mustarelli (2025). Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis with Poly(biphenyl piperidone co trifluoroacetophenone) random copolymers as Membranes. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Giulia Di Gregorio, Matteo Testi, Giovanni Cufalo, Nicholas Loi (2025). Advancing AEM Electrolysis: A Novel Single-Cell for Evaluating High-Performance Membranes and Electrodes. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Michele Rizzi, Luca Pratticò, Oscar A. Bernabé, Dario Montinaro, Matteo Testi (2025). Comparison of different fuel mixture for direct ammonia fuel cell. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Luca Pratticò, Gregorio Casagrande, Andrea Gobbi, Johannes Lehmuskoski, Lius Daniel, Jari Ihonen, Matteo Testi (2025). Study on experimental parameters of PEMFC stack under CO contamination with Machine Learning Technique. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- V. Palmisano, A. Agostini, V. Troisi, M. Robino, V. R. Bescos, P. Piras (2025). Pre-normative research on hydrogen release assessment. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
- Silvia Ricciuti, Michele Bolognese, Gionata Luca, Matteo Testi (2025). Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Hydrogen Integration in Renewable Energy Communities in Italy. European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2025
Eds. Dr. Dirk Zimmer (DLR) and Prof. Ulf Christian Müller (HLSU), Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings, No. 218, ISBN: 978-91-8118-266-8, ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp218:
Michele Bolognese, Emanuele Martinelli, Luca Pratticò, Matteo Testi (2025). Dynamic modelling of an Ammonia to Power application at high efficiency using a solid oxide fuel cell system. Proceedings of the 16th International Modelica & FMI Conference Lucerne, Switzerland, September 8-10, 2025, pp. 395-403
Emanuele Martinelli, Michele Bolognese, Nirmala Nirmala, Narges Ataollahi, Matteo Testi (2025). Direct Ammonia Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack: Modelling and Experimental Validation. Proceedings of the 16th International Modelica & FMI Conference Lucerne, Switzerland, September 8-10, 2025, pp. 405-512
Michele Urbani, Michele Bolognese, Luca Pratticò, Matteo Testi (2025). A Tool for the Implementation of Open Neural Network Exchange Models in Functional Mockup Units. Proceedings of the 16th International Modelica & FMI Conference Lucerne, Switzerland, September 8-10, 2025, pp. 645-651
C. Chandraiahgari, G. Gottardi, D.Dalessandro, G.Speranza, V.Micheli, B.Muzzi, R.Bartali, M. Testi, (2025) GREEN NANOMATERIAL SYNTHESIS VIA RF SPUTTERING IN LIQUIDS AND ONTO POWDERS FOR SCALABLE, CRM-FREE CATALYSTS FOR WATER ELECTROLYSIS, International Workshop on Solar Applications For Environment, December 2025. Conference Proceedings. Book of abstract at this link.
Crema, L., Testi, M., (2024). L’idrogeno e la transizione energetica: ruolo, stato e prospettive di sviluppo. Il Nuovo Saggiatore. Bollettino della Società Italiana di Fisica. Vol. 40, p. 67-74.
https://www.ilnuovosaggiatore.sif.it/issue/75
Crespi, E., Panaccione, F., Ragaglia, D., Testi, M. (2024). Integration of a solid oxide electrolysis system with solar thermal and electrical energy: A testing campaign for operation and control strategy definition. IET Renew. Power Gener. 18(Suppl. 1), 4399–4413. DOI: 10.1049/rpg2.13141
Crespi, E., Luca, G., Testi, M., Maggi, C., Bona, V., Biagioperla Barone, M., Staffetti, G., Crema, L. (2024). Renewable hydrogen production through electrolysis: An analysis of the cost gap for its economic competitiveness in Italy, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Volume 68, Pages 1163-1177, ISSN 0360-3199.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.04.303
Crespi, E., Ragaglia, D., Panaccione, F., Testi, M. (2023). Control of a Solid Oxide Electrolysis system for hydrogen generation from solar power and thermal energy storage. 2023 International Conference on Clean Electrical Power (ICCEP), Terrasini, Italy, 2023, pp. 765-774. DOI: 10.1109/ICCEP57914.2023.10247493
Giaconia, A., Della Pietra, M., Moreno, P., Testi, M., Diethelm, S., Romero Alvarez, M., Robino, M., van Herle, J., Morico, B., Dobrée, J. (2023). Green Hydrogen Production by Means of Solar Heat and Power in High Temperature Solid Oxide Electrolyzers. Proceedings of the Australian Hydrogen Research Conference 2023 (AHRC 2023) 8-10 February 2023. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4478053
Bolognese, M., Testi, M., De Bortoli, L., Bartali, R., Crema, L. (2022). Experimental validation of a dynamic modelling of a Reversible Solid Oxide Cells (rSOCs). E3S Web Conf. 334 01003, DOI: 10.1051/e3sconf/202233401003
de Maigret, J., Viesi, D., Mahbub, M. S., Testi, M., Cuonzo, M., Thellufsen, J. Z., … & Crema, L. (2022). A multi-objective optimization approach in defining the decarbonization strategy of a refinery. Smart Energy, 100076. DOI: 10.1016/j.segy.2022.100076
Farajimoghadam, F., Testi, M., Crema. L. (2022). Hydrogen emission in enclosed volume (tunnel for mobility). E3S Web Conf. 334 03004, DOI: 10.1051/e3sconf/202233403004
Hafeez Ullah, N. Laidani, R. Bartali, V. Micheli, Kashif Safeen, G. Gottardi, F. Rossi, Wei Liu, Saeed Ullah, (2022). Hybrid graphene-based materials and its catalytic activity toward hydrogen sorption, Diamond and Related Materials, Volume 121, 108766, ISSN 0925-9635, DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2021.108766.
Romano, MC, Antonini, C, Bardow, A, Bertsch, V., Brandon, N.P., Brouwer, J., Campanari, S., Crema, L. et al. (2022). Comment on “How green is blue hydrogen?”. Energy Sci Eng. 2022; 10: 1944- 1954. DOI: 10.1002/ese3.1126
Crema, L., Testi, M., Trini, M. (2021). High-temperature electrolysis: efficient and versatile solution for multiple applications. In W. de Gruyter (Ed.). Hydrogen Book Series n° 3 ( pp 219 – 268). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH.
Zendrini, M., Testi, M., Trini, M., Daniele, P., Van Herle, J., & Crema, L. (2021). Assessment of ammonia as energy carrier in the use with reversible solid oxide cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Trini, M., De Angelis, S., Jørgensen, P. S., Hendriksen, P. V., Thornton, K., & Chen, M. (2021). Towards the Validation of a Phase Field Model for Ni Coarsening in Solid Oxide Cells. Acta Materialia, 212, 116887.
Di Florio, G., Macchi, E.G., Mongibello, L., Baratto, M.C., Basosi, R., Busi, E., Caliano, M., Cigolotti, V., Testi, M., Trini, M. (2021). Comparative life cycle assessment of two different SOFC-based cogeneration systems with thermal energy storage integrated into a single-family house nanogrid, Applied Energy, Volume 285, 116378, ISSN 0306-2619, DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116378
