Challenges and potentials for additive manufacturing of hydrogen energy components

A review

authored by

Lennart Mesecke, Ina Meyer, Marcus Oel, Roland Lachmayer

Abstract

Climate change necessitates the development of sustainable energy systems, with hydrogen technologies playing a key role in this transition. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers a significant potential to enhance the efficiency of hydrogen energy components and reduce their costs through rapid prototyping, design freedom, and functional integration. This review provides the first comprehensive summary of the current state of research on the application of AM processes in the production, storage, and utilization of hydrogen. It highlights various AM processes such as powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, fused filament fabrication and stereolithography for the advancement of hydrogen energy components. Current research trends include the material development, multi-material AM, hybrid processes, and the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning. At present, the technologies presented are mainly at a development stage of TRL 4–5. The next major step towards industrialization is the demonstration of prototypes outside the laboratory.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Motion Engineering and Mechanism Design

Type

Review article

Journal

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Volume

113

Pages

198-219

No. of pages

22

ISSN

0360-3199

Publication date

27.03.2025

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Fuel Technology, Condensed Matter Physics, Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.02.441 (Access: Open)