Degradation issues of PEM electrolysis MEAs

Siracusano, Stefania; Dijk, Nicholas van; Backhouse, Rachel; Merlo, Luca; Baglio, V.; Aricò, A.S.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2018.02.024

Cited by 95 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…z E-mail: alexandra.weiss@tum.de owing to stabilization of the polymer endgroups, 13 so that membrane thinning is likely less of an issue when using state-of-the-art PFSA membranes. 14 Another membrane related degradation effect is the contamination of the ionomeric membrane with cations, 11,[15][16] typically introduced by improperly treated feed-water which is the major cause for PEM-WE failures in the field, [16][17] Sun et al showed the operation of a 9-cell PEM-WE stack for 7800 h at constant current, and recorded a gradual decrease in performance that they attributed to cationic contamination, since the initial performance was mostly recovered by boiling the degraded MEA (membrane-electrode-assembly) in sulfuric acid. 18 Apart from degradation of the membrane in the membraneelectrode-assembly via chemical degradation and cationic contamination, gradual passivation of the titanium porous transport layer (PTL) at the high potentials experienced by the anode electrode of an electrolyzer increases the internal ohmic resistance and, hence, leads to a decrease of performance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Intermittent Operation on Lifetime and Performance of a PEM Water Electrolyzer

Weiß

Siebel

Bernt

et al. 2019

J. Electrochem. Soc.

234

158

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The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of performance degrading mechanisms occurring when a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEM-WE) is coupled with renewable energies, where times of operation and idle periods alternate. An accelerated stress test (AST) is proposed, mimicking a fluctuating power supply by operating the electrolyzer cell between high (3 A cm −2 geo) and low current densities (0.1 A cm −2 geo), alternating with idle periods during which no current is supplied and the cell rests at open circuit voltage (OCV). Polarization curves, periodically recorded during the OCV-AST, reveal an initial increase in activity (≈50 mV after 10 cycles) followed by a significant decrease in performance during prolonged OCV cycling due to an increasing high frequency resistance (HFR) (≈1.6-fold after 718 cycles). These performance changes can clearly be related to the OCV periods, since they are not observed in a reference experiment where the OCV period is replaced by a potential hold at 1.3 V. The origin of the phenomena, which are responsible for the initial performance gain as well as the subsequent decay are analyzed via detailed electrochemical and physical characterization of the MEAs, and an operating strategy to prevent performance degradation is proposed.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Intermittent Operation on Lifetime and Performance of a PEM Water Electrolyzer

Weiß

Siebel

Bernt

et al. 2019

J. Electrochem. Soc.

234

158

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Siracusano et al 65 reported that neither of their catalyst layer thicknesses changed considerably during 3500 h of constant current at 1 A cm −2 . However, they noticed that the membrane thickness decreased by up to 50%.…”

Section: Morphology Of the Catalyst Layers-based On The Sem Images Inmentioning

confidence: 96%

Stable Reference Electrode in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Electrolyser for Three-Electrode Measurements

Sorsa¹,

Nieminen²,

Kauranen³

et al. 2019

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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In this study, various methods to study individual electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane cells are reviewed and a novel reference electrode design is developed for a laboratory scale single cell polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyser. The design uses an internal pseudo-reference electrode which is proven to enable galvanostatic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies. The setup is used to study the state-of-the-art electrode materials with high loadings in a start-stop cycling durability test. The cycled catalyst layers are characterized ex-situ with SEM, TEM and XRD. As a result, on the anode the mass transport resistance increases, the macro porosity increases and a structural change from amorphous IrO x toward crystalline IrO 2 is detected. On the cathode the platinum particle size increases and an intensifying corrosion phenomenon is detected. In overall, this degradation has still low effect on the full cell performance during the studied 1750 hours. However, there is a clear indication that if the start-stop cycling is further continued, the cell will experience a dramatic performance loss much sooner than when operating it in a constant current mode.

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“…[1] The use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source has many advantages such as natural abundance source (water), [2] used both as internal combustion engine and fuel cells, [3] higher energy densities three times higher than hydrocarbon fuels, [4,5] and used in many catalytic processes as reducing agent. [2] The main categories of hydrogen production through water splitting are alkaline, [6] polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), [7,8] solid oxide electrolyzes (SOE). [9,10] It involves two half-reactions: -oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) at the cathode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrocatalytic Investigation of M@Pd (M=Ni, Co, Cu) Core‐Shell Nanostructure Supported on N, S‐Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide towards Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reaction

et al. 2020

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The strong affinity of palladium (Pd) towards hydrogen is the main challenge for hydrogen desorption application. Therefore, in this report, we synthesized nickel, copper, and cobalt core and palladium shell nanostructure supported on nitrogen, sulfur‐doped reduced graphene oxide (M@Pd/N, S‐rGO, M=Ni, Cu, Co) by hydrothermal method followed by reduction of the metal nanoparticles using modified polyol method. Using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the physicochemical properties of the synthesized sample was investigated. The results confirm strong interactions between M@Pd and higher surface area support that could enhance electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Among the synthesized electrocatalyst, Ni@Pd/N,S‐rGO exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity with small over potential 0.035 V and 0.2 V at 10 mA/cm2 and a Tafel slope value of 39 mV dec−1 and 34 mV dec−1 for HER and OER, respectively. The Ni@Pd/N,S‐rGO electrocatalyst demonstrated excellent stability with a negligible current decrease for 12 h. The Cdl calculation shows a result of 2.2 mF μg−1 for Ni@Pd/N,S‐rGO, 1.9 mF μg−1 for Cu@Pd/N,S‐rGO, and 1.5 mF μg−1 for Co@Pd/N,S‐rGO.

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Degradation issues of PEM electrolysis MEAs

Cited by 95 publications

References 32 publications

Impact of Intermittent Operation on Lifetime and Performance of a PEM Water Electrolyzer

Impact of Intermittent Operation on Lifetime and Performance of a PEM Water Electrolyzer

Stable Reference Electrode in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Electrolyser for Three-Electrode Measurements

Electrocatalytic Investigation of M@Pd (M=Ni, Co, Cu) Core‐Shell Nanostructure Supported on N, S‐Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide towards Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reaction

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