From seawater electrolysis to stack scale-up challenges, a glimpse inside the EU projects shaping Hydrolite’s next phase of international collaboration.
The work taking place at Hydrolite today is increasingly shaped beyond its own lab walls. Over the past years, the company has become an active participant in several European Union funded hydrogen initiatives, working alongside industrial players and research institutions across the continent. These projects, spanning large scale AEM development, seawater electrolysis, and bio-based materials, offer a window into how hydrogen technologies are being tested, scaled, and refined in real world multi partner environments.
Across several European Union funded projects, the company is navigating a challenge that sits at the core of hydrogen’s future. How to scale without losing what made the technology work in the first place. “You’re not just increasing size,” explains Anna Kitayev, CRO and lab manager at Hydrolite. “You’re trying to preserve uniformity, stability, and performance across a much larger surface.”
The question is simple in theory and complicated in practice. A membrane that performs well at 5 square centimeters must behave the same way at 600, and eventually inside a full electrolyzer stack. But as the footprint grows, new variables emerge, including mechanical pressure, structural stress, and the subtle inconsistencies that only appear at scale.
The Scale-Up Challenge
One of the most ambitious efforts currently underway is a project focused on large scale AEM (Anion Exchange Membrane) development. The goal is clear. Produce membranes capable of supporting a 100 kW electrolyzer stack. The path there is less straightforward.
This work unfolds within a multinational framework, with partners across Germany, Italy, Spain, and Greece. Every two weeks, teams meet to exchange data, troubleshoot challenges, and refine their approach. Membranes are shipped, tested, evaluated, and often redesigned. Feedback loops are constant, and progress is incremental. At a certain stage, the membranes move from the lab into stack assembly. This is where new challenges appear.
Hydrogen from Seawater
If scaling is one frontier, feedstock is another. In a separate project (SEA4VOLT) launched under the Horizon Europe framework, Hydrolite is working on electrolysis using seawater. The concept is appealing, a nearly limitless resource, but chemistry is unforgiving.
Seawater introduces ions and compounds that can degrade performance or damage components. The membrane must not only conduct the desired ions but also block everything else. Stability becomes the central challenge.
Here, Hydrolite’s proprietary approach comes into play. The company has developed a mechanism designed to prevent unwanted ions from crossing the membrane, maintaining purity in the hydrogen output. This is achieved through a combination of membrane design and MEA (membrane electrode assembly) engineering.
At the same time, the project explores stack configurations with multiple cells, each operating under real world conditions derived from different marine environments, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Baltic. Each brings its own chemical profile, forcing the technology to adapt rather than assume uniformity.
Rethinking Materials
Not all membranes begin in a lab. In another ongoing project (BIOPYRANIA), Hydrolite is working with partners developing bio-based membranes derived from bacterial biomass. These materials are formed through metabolic processes that produce polymer structures suitable for electrochemical applications.
It is a different approach to the same problem. How to build efficient, durable components for electrolyzers and fuel cells. Instead of refining synthetic materials, the focus shifts to biological production pathways, raising questions about scalability, consistency, and long-term performance. For Hydrolite, this means adapting to materials it did not create, integrating them into systems, and evaluating how they behave under operational conditions.
A Distributed Lab
Behind these projects is a network that extends beyond company walls. Hydrolite works closely with universities across Israel, including the Technion, Bar Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Ben Gurion University. Advanced characterization tools, including electron microscopes and analytical systems, are accessed through ongoing agreements designed to accelerate testing cycles.
The structure is intentional. Instead of building every capability in house, the company relies on a distributed model, tapping into academic infrastructure to move faster. Data flows back into R&D, informing adjustments and guiding the next iteration.
Between these checkpoints, collaboration continues in smaller cycles, including monthly calls, technical discussions, and periodic in person meetings hosted by different partners. These gatherings are as much about alignment as they are about exposure. Engineers and researchers step into each other’s labs, seeing firsthand how parallel efforts take shape.
For Kitayev, who oversees multiple projects alongside lab operations, the balance is constant. Half her time is dedicated to managing these international initiatives. The rest is spent on internal R&D and diagnostics, bridging external insights with in-house capabilities.
Parallel Work
All three projects – large scale AEM development, seawater electrolysis, and bio-based membranes – run in parallel, each with timelines stretching three to four years. They differ in scope and approach, but they converge on a shared objective. Making hydrogen systems viable beyond controlled environments.
What emerges is not a single breakthrough but a process. Iterative, collaborative, and often uncertain. Membranes are redesigned, stacks are reconfigured, and assumptions are tested against real world constraints.
Hydrolite remains open to new partnerships, particularly in the development of AEM technologies. In a field where scale, stability, and efficiency rarely align on the first attempt, progress depends less on isolated innovation and more on the ability to connect pieces across borders, disciplines, and systems.
