Quantifying Sources of Voltage Decay in Long-Term Durability Testing for PEM Water Electrolysis

Padgett, Elliot; Yu, Haoran; Blair, Sarah J.; Cullen, David A.; Ahluwalia, Rajesh K.; Myers, Deborah J.; Pivovar, Bryan; Alia, Shaun M.

doi:10.1149/1945-7111/add184

Quantifying Sources of Voltage Decay in Long-Term Durability Testing for PEM Water Electrolysis

Journal Article · Fri May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/add184· OSTI ID:2566944

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National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Meeting a competitive 1$/kg hydrogen cost target for polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) will require advances to significantly reduce capital costs and precious metal catalyst usage, while simultaneously enabling 40,000–80,000 h stack lifetimes under dynamic use conditions. Minimizing cell voltage decay rates is therefore a key goal for PEMWE, although the fundamental processes governing voltage decay are not yet well understood. Here we present a quantitative approach to analyze the contributions to voltage decay in long-term PEMWE testing using polarization curves, impedance spectroscopy, and post-mortem electron microscopy. We apply this approach to analyze a 28 μV h⁻¹ decay rate observed in a 4000 h durability test of a cell using 0.5 mg cm⁻² total PGM catalyst loading (0.4 mg_Ir cm⁻² anode, 0.1 mg_Pt cm⁻² cathode) and 3 A cm⁻² current density. We also analyze a comparative series of 1000 h tests under different conditions. These results provide valuable insights into anode catalyst degradation processes, as well as transferrable methodology for PEMWE durability research.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2566944

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2563007
OSTI ID: 2573148
OSTI ID: 2573869

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5900-92767

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 172; ISSN 1945-7111; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Quantifying Sources of Voltage Decay in Long-Term Durability Testing for PEM Water Electrolysis

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