Porous Transport Layers for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: The Impact of Morphology and Composition

Kreider, Melissa E.; Maldonado Santos, Ambar R.; Clauser, Arielle Lillyn; Sweers, Matthew E.; Hu, Leiming; Volk, Emily K.; Chan, Ai-Lin; Sugar, Joshua Daniel; Alia, Shaun M.

doi:10.1021/acselectrochem.4c00207

Porous Transport Layers for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: The Impact of Morphology and Composition

Journal Article · Fri Feb 07 00:00:00 UTC 2025 · ACS Electrochemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acselectrochem.4c00207· OSTI ID:2512431

^[1]; Maldonado Santos, Ambar R. ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[1]; ^[5]; Chan, Ai-Lin ^[1]; Sugar, Joshua Daniel ^[3]; ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Chemistry and Nanoscience Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Chemistry and Nanoscience Center; Univ. of Puerto Rico, PR (United States)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is an emerging technology for the low-cost production of hydrogen. However, the efficiency and durability of AEMWE devices is currently insufficient to compete with other low-temperature electrolysis technologies. The porous transport layer (PTL) is a critical cell component that remains relatively unoptimized for AEMWE. In this study, we demonstrate that device performance is significantly affected by the morphology and composition of the PTL. For Ni fiber-based PTLs with a ~2 μm Co₃O₄ oxygen evolution reaction catalyst layer, decreasing the pore size and porosity resulted in a 20% increase in current density at 2 V in 1 M KOH supporting electrolyte. Alloy PTLs with even lower porosity had a higher performance; in particular, the stainless steel PTL gave an 80% increase in current density relative to Ni. Without Co₃O₄, the alloy PTLs still demonstrated high activity, indicating that the PTL material was catalytically active. However, characterization of the electrode and electrolyte after testing indicated that the alloy PTLs also underwent restructuring and corrosion processes that may limit long-term stability. This study demonstrates that the design of PTLs with improved morphology and composition is an important area of focus to achieve AEMWE performance targets.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); 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)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC02-76SF00515; AC36-08GO28308; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2512431

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2520593
OSTI ID: 2558929

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5900-92217; SAND--2025-02046J

Journal Information:: ACS Electrochemistry, Journal Name: ACS Electrochemistry Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 1; ISSN 2997-0571

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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08 HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN
anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer
catalyst layer
corrosion
hydrogen
porous transport layer
water electrolysis

Porous Transport Layers for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: The Impact of Morphology and Composition

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