Membrane interlayer with PT recombination particles for reduction of the anodic hydrogen content in PEM water electrolysis

authored by
Carolin Klose, Patrick Trinke, Timo Böhm, Boris Bensmann, Severin Vierrath, Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach, Simon Thiele
Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is a key technology for sustainable hydrogen based energy supply. Gas permeation through the PEM leads to hydrogen in oxygen at the anode side posing a safety hazard and therefore restricting the operation window of PEM water electrolysis, especially when operating under pressure. In this work the hydrogen in oxygen content at the anode is significantly reduced when a recombination interlayer is integrated into the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) compared to reference MEAs without interlayer. The recombination interlayer with a platinum loading of 0.02 mg cm−2 is sprayed between two membranes that are coated with anode and cathode catalysts on the outside. The permeating H2 and O2 forms water at the recombination interlayer, leading to higher gas purity and resolving safety issues. In case of the MEAs with interlayer also a constant current hold at 1 A cm−2 for 245 h revealed only a slight increase of the hydrogen in oxygen content (below 140·10−6 vol.% h−1) whereas for the reference MEAs without interlayer a stronger increase was observed (above 1250·10−6 vol.% h−1). Furthermore, the long-term experiments showed no increased degradation rates compared to the reference MEAs.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Electric Power Systems
Section Electrical Energy Storage Systems
External Organisation(s)
University of Freiburg
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Hahn Schickard Society for Applied Research
Type
Article
Journal
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume
165
Pages
F1271-F1277
ISSN
0013-4651
Publication date
21.11.2018
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Surfaces, Coatings and Films, Electrochemistry, Materials Chemistry
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Electronic version(s)
http://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/858341/files/Membrane%20Interlayer%20with%20Pt%20Recombination%20Particles%20for%20Reduction%20of%20the%20Anodic%20Hydrogen%20Content%20in%20PEM%20Water%20Electrolysis.pdf (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1241814jes (Access: Closed)