The expansion of lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics to larger-scale transport and energy storage applications has made understanding the many mechanisms responsible for battery degradation increasingly important. The literature in...

The electrolysis of water is considered a promising route to the production of hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Electrolysers based on proton exchange membranes (PEMs) have a number of advantages including high current density, high product gas purity and the ability to operate at high pressure. Despite these advantages the high cost of such devices is an impediment to their widespread deployment. A principal factor in this cost are the materials and machining of flow plates for distribution of the liquid reagents and gaseous products in the electrochemical cell. We demonstrate the production and operation of a PEM electrolyser constructed from silver coated 3D printed components fabricated from polypropylene. This approach allows construction of light weight, low cost electrolysers and the rapid prototyping of flow field design. Furthermore we provide data on the operation of this electrolyser wherein we show that performance is excellent for a first generation device in terms of overall efficiency, internal resistances and current-voltage response. This development opens the door to the fabrication of light weight and cheap electrolysers as well as related electrochemical devices such as flow batteries and fuel cells. Broader contextUptake of renewable energy generation, especially wind and solar power is increasing at a dramatic rate and has the potential to contribute greatly to mankind's management of climate change due to accumulation of CO 2 . Matching supply and demand of these intermittent renewable energy sources is challenging and solutions offered oen depend on the conversion of excess electrical power to chemical or potential energy for storage until required. Hydrogen is a potential storage medium in this regard and the use of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers holds great promise for the generation of hydrogen from renewable sources. Successful realisation of this goal requires product development of all parts of the PEM electrolyser from the "active" components e.g. the catalysts, to the "passive" components, namely the structural parts of the electrolyser stack. 3D printing is an emerging technology which can be used in the fabrication of many different device types. Here we present the use of 3D printing to prepare components of an electrolyser cell and demonstrate its operation. This application of 3D printing enables rapid prototyping, cost reduction and a dramatic reduction in component weight. All of which may accelerate the development of new electrolyser technologies.

A hybrid electrolyser utilising anthraquinone disulfonic acid allows H2 and O2 production to be decoupled at current densities of up to 3.71 A cm–2, and provides an inherently safer and more flexible approach to water splitting.

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