--- title: "“Cannot be explained” – New ultra stainless steel stuns researchers" url: https://daily.dev/posts/cannot-be-explained-new-ultra-stainless-steel-stuns-researchers-4rdqiiowi source_url: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260510030950.htm type: article source: "Hacker News" published: 2026-05-13T12:01:35.516Z updated: 2026-05-13T12:01:58.768Z tags: ["science", "clean-energy"] reading_time: 8 upvotes: 1 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # “Cannot be explained” – New ultra stainless steel stuns researchers **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 8 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have developed SS-H2, a new stainless steel alloy designed for seawater electrolysis in green hydrogen production. Unlike conventional stainless steel, which fails at the high voltages required for water oxidation due to chromium oxide breakdown, SS-H2 employs a 'sequential dual-passivation' strategy: a standard chromium oxide layer is supplemented by a second manganese-based protective layer that forms at ~720 mV, extending corrosion resistance up to 1700 mV. This is counterintuitive since manganese is traditionally considered harmful to stainless steel corrosion resistance. The material performs comparably to expensive titanium-based components used in current industrial electrolyzers, potentially reducing structural material costs by ~40x. Tons of SS-H2 wire have already been produced in collaboration with a Chinese factory, and patents have been granted in multiple countries. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Using Electrolysis For More Than Just Generating Hydrogen](https://daily.dev/posts/using-electrolysis-for-more-than-just-generating-hydrogen-iru0x5ivc) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Toward cheaper, cleaner hydrogen production](https://daily.dev/posts/toward-cheaper-cleaner-hydrogen-production-mstch5vqe) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Palladium filters could enable cheaper, more efficient generation of hydrogen fuel](https://daily.dev/posts/palladium-filters-could-enable-cheaper-more-efficient-generation-of-hydrogen-fuel-nqrjnsals) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#science](https://daily.dev/tags/science), [#clean-energy](https://daily.dev/tags/clean-energy) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/cannot-be-explained-new-ultra-stainless-steel-stuns-researchers-4rdqiiowi)