Revolutionizing Green Hydrogen Production with Next Generation PEM Water Electrolyzer Electrodes

摘要: Cost and durability of proton-exchange-membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) components are the two main drawbacks with existing PEMWE technology. A major driver of cost in PEMWE systems is the iridium catalyst, which is expensive and limited in supply. For example, with an iridium loading of about 2 mg Ir/cm2, an annual increase of PEMWE capacity of 10 GW would exceed current worldwide Ir production. Therefore, iridium use must be drastically reduced or eliminated to meet worldwide electrolyzer production goals.The primary objective of the Revolutionizing Green Hydrogen Production with Next Generation PEM Water Electrolyzer Electrodes (HOPE) project is to reduce the anode loading of Ir catalyst in PEMWE below 50 mg Ir/kW. To achieve this goal, we pursue two approaches: optimization of the interface between the catalyst layer (CL) and the porous transport layer (PTL), and development of …