(Invited) Towards the Next Generation of High Performance, Durable Water Electrolyzer Membranes

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) has emerged as one of the most promising methods to produce clean hydrogen at industrial scale. Incumbent membranes (such as Nafion™ N115) have proven to enable high durability in the PEMWE application. However, it is well understood that novel PEMWE stack designs require higher voltage efficiency and low effective gas crossover, which implies thin, low resistance membranes containing gas recombination catalysts (GRCs). Compared to Nafion™ N115, thin membranes are at enhanced risk of failure from both mechanical and (electro)chemical mechanisms. While promising examples of these membranes have been recently disclosed, 1 a systematic demonstration of their durability has not yet been performed. In PEM fuel cells, decades of research have resulted in accelerated stress test (AST) protocols that are effective to mimic real failures while shortening the time to observe them. These ASTs have not yet been proven/implemented for PEMWE membranes. Progress toward engineering high performance, durable thin membranes will be presented, along with a perspective on how best to engineer ASTs for PEMWE. Park, A., Performance and Durability Investigation of Thin, Low Crossover Proton Exchange Membranes for Water Electrolyzers. DOE Annual Merit Review. 2020 .