Tata Steel’s 2025 R&D 100 recognition spotlights a materials and infrastructure problem at the center of the emerging hydrogen economy: how to move hydrogen safely over long distances. In an interview, Prashant Pathak, Ph.D., explains that the status quo is constrained by hydrogen embrittlement, where steel exposed to hydrogen can suffer degraded properties, including fracture toughness, which is critical for high-pressure service. His team’s work focuses on creating a steel grade intended to hold up under the demands of 100% gaseous hydrogen transport.
Pathak, project lead in the Product Development Research Group at Tata Steel R&D, describes a broad, cross-functional effort spanning “people from R&D, technology group, automation, steel making, and then pipe manufacturing,” all contributing across the development journey. The technical approach centered on designing a microstructure with improved resistance to embrittlement through careful choices in steel composition and processing. The material’s microstructure includes acicular and polygonal ferrite along with niobium-rich nanoscale precipitates intended to trap diffusing hydrogen and limit its movement into vulnerable regions.
On commercialization, Pathak says the product has been “rigorously tested at external laboratories” and is now moving toward market readiness following plant-scale trials that built in-house capability from hot-rolled steel through pipe form. He adds that Tata Steel is already in discussions with energy-sector organizations and pipe manufacturers for deployment in hydrogen transportation projects. “This award is a testament to Tata Steel’s commitment towards developing solutions and products for a sustainable energy future,” Pathak says.
