Pioneering Microporous Layers for Proton-Exchange-Membrane Water Electrolyzers via Tape Casting

Lee, Jason K.; Lau, Grace Y.; Shen, Fengyu; Bergeson-Keller, Anyka; Peng, Xiong; Tucker, Michael C.

doi:10.1149/1945-7111/ad54f1

Pioneering Microporous Layers for Proton-Exchange-Membrane Water Electrolyzers via Tape Casting

Journal Article · Fri Jun 14 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ad54f1· OSTI ID:2397267

^[1]; Lau, Grace Y. ^[2]; ^[2]; Bergeson-Keller, Anyka ^[2]; Peng, Xiong ^[2]; Tucker, Michael C. ^[2]

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

The imperative shift towards decarbonization necessitates the production of clean hydrogen through water electrolysis, powered by renewable energy sources. Among electrolyzer technologies, proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) systems emerge as a promising option for large-scale hydrogen generation due to their modular design and rapid response, aligning well with the intermittency of renewable energy. In this study, we employ a tape casting method to fabricate microporous layers (MPLs), both as a single layer and as a bilayer over commercial porous transport layers (PTLs), to further enhance performance of water electrolyzers. We demonstrate that microporous layers require adequate pore sizes to facilitate gas removal, preventing gas flooding and preserving electrolyzer performance. Our single layer microporous layers exhibit lower overpotentials compared to commercial sintered Ti PTLs by 142 mV at 4 A·cm^⁻2. Moreover, we show that having an effective microporous layer enhances electrolyzer performance irrespective of the substrate used, offering avenues for cost reduction. We also investigate novel PTL structures with reduced tortuosity and integrated MPL fabricated via phase inversion tape casting, resulting in a performance enhancement of 92 mV. Our findings unravel the critical role of microporous layer structures and their impact on electrolyzer performance.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2397267

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 171; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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