Poly(Vinyl Alcohol-Co-Vinyl Acetal) Gel Electrolytes for Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Carboxylated Polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-b-polystyrene Membranes for Alkaline Water Electrolysis

“…Synthesized according to the general procedure described for S4-ME and S5-ME, by reacting S4-Br (1.00 g, 2.7 mmol) or S5-Br (1.00 g, 2.3 mmol) with diethyl ethylmalonate (0.86 mL, 4.6 mmol or 0.87 mL, 4.8 mmol, respectively) and NaH (0.13 g, 3.2 mmol or 0.12 g, 3.0 mmol, respectively) to give S4-M s E and S5-M s E, respectively. The yield was 98% for both polymers, and the degree of functionalization as determined by 1 H NMR was 75% and 60%, respectively.…”

“…The product, S4-ME (malonate ester), was isolated by filtration after drying in a vacuum oven at 50 °C overnight with a yield of 96% and with a degree of functionalization of 75% as determined by 1 H NMR. Similarly, S5-Br (1.00 g, 2.3 mmol) was reacted with diethyl malonate (0.46 mL, 4.8 mmol) and NaH (0.12 g, 3.0 mmol) according to the same general procedure to give S5-ME at 97% yield with a degree of functionalization of 60% as determined by 1 H NMR.…”

“…Alkaline ion-solvating polymer electrolytes are emerging as an attractive class of electrode separators for high-rate alkaline water electrolysis. 1 With ion conductivity exceeding 100 mS cm −1 in 20−30 wt % aqueous KOH, polybenzimidazole has proven particularly attractive as it combines low area specific resistance (ASR) with low H 2 crossover. 2,3 However, gradual backbone degradation results in a limited stability window of months under simulated operating conditions 4 and even shorter in operating electrolysis cells.…”

A Guide to Electrocatalyst Stability Using Lab-Scale Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

“…We use the state-of-the-art Zirfon PERL UTP 500 diaphragm, a well-established and long-lasting standard separator in AWE. 13,27,37 The diaphragm is positioned between the cathode and anode (Figure S5). The manufacture and preparation of these components are detailed in the Supporting Information.…”

“…3,5,26,29,30 This design shortens ion travel distances and facilitates gas discharge. 13 Despite electrolyte and bubble management being much simpler than similar systems, such as CO 2 electrolyzers, 28 designing zero-gap configurations requires careful consideration of materials, dimensions, and cell architectures. Over the past four years, we have refined various flow cell designs to optimize mass transport, resulting in an optimized architecture.…”