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

Abstract

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.