DOE OSTI · 3025382
Materials Engineering for High Performance and Durability Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers
Abstract
Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) are expected to play a crucial role in the global green energy transition during the 21st century. They provide a versatile and sustainable solution for generating hydrogen with very high purity in combination with renewable energies, such as solar and wind. Despite their promise, PEMWEs face several critical problems, including high costs, performance limitations, and durability challenges, particularly at low iridium (Ir) loading on the anode. Advancing next-generation PEMWEs requires extensive work on materials engineering of all cell components, including the catalyst layer (CL), membrane, porous transport layer (PTL), bipolar plate (BPP), and gasket. This task must be performed with the complementary contribution of different modeling and characterization techniques. This review presents a critical perspective from academia, research centers, and industry, mapping main developments, remaining gaps, and strategic pathways to advance PEMWE technology. A focus is devoted to key aspects, such as operation at low Ir loading, membrane durability, multiscale transport layers, porous and non-porous flow fields, multiphysics modeling, and multipurpose characterization techniques, which are thoroughly discussed. By unifying these topics, this review provides readers with the essential knowledge to grasp current developments and tackle tomorrow's challenges in PEMWE engineering.
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García-Salaberri, Pablo A. [Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000239185415), van Eijk, Lonneke [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000317271360), Bangay, William [Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading (United Kingdom)], Ferner, Kara J. [Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000210419898), Ha, Mee H. [Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)], Moore, Michael [Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading (United Kingdom)], Perea, Ivan [University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada)], Kusoglu, Ahmet [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227611050), Secanell, Marc [University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)], Das, Prodip K. [University of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000190963721), Firas, Nausir [University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000163130206), Pylypenko, Svitlana [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000017982734X), Novy, Melissa [Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000311121011), Yandrasits, Michael [Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Reading (United Kingdom)], Saha, Suvash C. [University of Technology Sydney, NSW (Australia)] (ORCID:0000000299628919), Bayat, Ali [University of Technology Sydney, NSW (Australia)], Litster, Shawn [Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000319731834), Zenyuk, Iryna V. [University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000216120475). 2025-09-11. Materials Engineering for High Performance and Durability Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.5c01989
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