A standard electrolyzer test cell design for evaluating catalysts and cell components for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis

Abstract

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis technology is an environmentally friendly method for hydrogen production without carbon dioxide emissions. The development of this technology is hindered by the sluggish rates of the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, demanding the rational design of electrocatalysts for these processes. Although numerous hydrogen and oxygen evolution electrocatalysts are reported in the literature, there is currently no standard set of conditions or cell design under which they can be tested; variance in testing conditions and water electrolyzer components from one study to another therefore hampers a full and coherent comparison of novel electrocatalysts for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, a standard water electrolyzer test cell was designed and optimized, such that this test cell can be adopted as a universal framework for evaluating novel electrocatalysts (and indeed other cell components) for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. The performance of this water electrolyzer was evaluated using a commercial Pt/C hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst, with an optimized cell found to deliver current densities of 1.40 A cm–2 and 2.74 A cm–2 at cell voltages of 2.0 V and at 60 °C using Fumasep FAA-3-50 and Sustainion® X37-50 membranes, respectively. Guidance for assembling and operating the water electrolyzer is provided, along with computer-aided design drawings of the electrolyzer and its components to allow others to construct their own identical cells for benchmarking catalysts and other cell components for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis.