Experimental Study on the Catalyst-Coated Membrane of a Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022-11

Authors

A.M.F.R. Pinto (Author) FEUP; Daniela Falcão (Author) FEUP; Amadeu Gomes Rocha (Author) Other; Rui Ferreira (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Energies

Vol. 46

Final page: 7937

ISSN: 1996-1073

Publisher: MDPI

Indexing

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Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00X-GJ8

DOI: 10.3390/en15217937

Abstract (EN): Proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology may regulate the electrical grid connected to intermittent power sources. The growing pace of R&D in alternative components is widening manufacturing methods and testing procedures across the literature. This turns the comparison between performances into a more laborious task, especially for those starting research in this area, increasing the importance of testing components accessible to all. In this study, an electrochemical characterization is performed on a commercial single-cell PEM water electrolyzer with commercial catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) and one prepared in-house. Two membrane thicknesses and the effect of different catalysts are assessed. The thicker membrane, Nafion 117, operates with 5% greater ohmic overvoltage than the thinner Nafion 115, resulting in up to 1.5% higher voltage for the former membrane. Equivalent Ir black CCMs provided by different suppliers and one prepared in-house perform similarly. Regarding the influence of the anode catalyst, Ir black, IrRuOx and IrRuOx/Pt have similar performance, whereas IrOx has worse performance. Compared with Ir black, the mix of IrRuOx/Pt operated with 1.5% lower voltage at 2.6 A cm(-2), whereas IrRuOx performed with 2% lower voltage at 0.3 A cm(-2). A temporary increase in performance is observed when the anode is purged with hydrogen gas.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 16