Development of Novel AEM Water Electrolyser Cell for Hydrogen Production for Energy Storage

预计氢气将在满足能源储存和运输要求的清洁燃料需求方面发挥关键作用。目前，> 95%的H2生产来自使用高温下的气相反应的化石燃料原料。与这种技术相反，水电解提供了一种从水中获得氢气的清洁途径，而不消耗化石燃料或排放二氧化碳。如果电力来自可再生能源，电解水就成为真正的绿色技术。20世纪70年代，通用电气公司设计、测试和制造了用于生产H2和O2的质子交换膜（PEM）水电解槽。尽管H2和O2的生产质量很高，但由于在电池内使用贵金属和膜，该技术仍然非常昂贵。主要客户是军事和太空探索。一种有吸引力的方法是基于零间隙阴离子交换膜（AEM）电解槽的设计与氢氧化物导电膜。AEM水电解槽开辟了使用非贵金属催化剂和更便宜的电池组件的可能性，这导致了具有成本竞争力的氢气生产的可能性，以获得广泛的市场渗透。因此，本项目旨在开发一种高效和具有成本竞争力的AEM水电解槽用于制氢。研究活动将建立在研究小组以前的工作基础上：第一项研究任务是优化选定的催化剂。第二个任务是研究催化剂在膜上的沉积方法。第三个任务是构建具有所需性能的AEM水电解槽电池。

Hydrogen is expected to play a key role in meeting the need for clean fuel for both energy storage and transport requirements. Presently, > 95% of H2 production comes from fossil fuel feedstock using gas phase reactions at high temperature. In contrast to this technology, water electrolysis provides a clean route to hydrogen from water without the consumption of fossil fuel or the emission of CO2. If the electricity comes from renewable energy sources, water electrolysis becomes a truly green technology. In 1970s a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell for H2 and O2 production were designed, tested and fabricated by General Electric. With high quality production of H2 and O2, this technology is yet very expensive because of employing precious metals and membrane within the cell. The major customers are the military and the space exploration. An attractive approach is based on design of zero gap anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser with a hydroxide conduction membrane. AEM water electrolyser opens up the possibility of using non-precious metal catalysts and cheaper cell components, which leads to the possibility of cost-competitive hydrogen production for a broad market penetration. This project therefore aims to develop an AEM water electrolyser cell for hydrogen production in high efficiency and cost-competiveness. The research activity will be built on the research group's previous work: the first research task is to optimize the selected catalysts. The second task is to investigate the catalyst deposition method on the membrane. The third task is to construct an AEM water electrolyser cell with a desired performance.