Performance and Durability Investigation of Thin, Low Crossover Proton Exchange Membranes for Water Electrolyzers

Technical Report · Tue Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2025

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2588458· OSTI ID:2588458

Park, Andrew M. ^[1]

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1. The Chemours Company FC, LLC, Wilmington, DE (United States)

The goal of this project was to fabricate and study the performance and durability implications of thin, mechanically reinforced membranes containing gas recombination catalysts (GRCs) for advanced proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) systems. The thinner membranes, optimized for a PEMWE environment, dramatically reduced the proton transport resistance across the membrane, improving the overall efficiency of the PEMWE system. At the same time, the GRC technology was deployed to recombine crossover hydrogen from the cathode with oxygen from the anode to form water within the membrane. This reaction mitigated the buildup of hydrogen in the oxygen stream, ensuring safe operation of the PEMWE system. Capabilities to measure the gas crossover in both an ex-situ screening cell and in operando application testing were developed over the course of the project to track membrane progress and quantify deliverables. State of the art roll to roll manufacturing technologies were leveraged to fabricate the membranes on a commercial scale, where the membrane structure was precisely tuned and GRC distributed within the membrane structure.

• Research Organization: The Chemours Company FC, LLC, Wilmington, DE (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0008836
• OSTI ID: 2588458
• Report Number(s): DE--EE0008836
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Electrolyzer
Hydrogen
Hydrogen Production
Ion Exchange Polymer
Membrane
Nafion
Water Electrolysis