Advanced Nano-Porous Thin Films: Automating Water Electrolysis with Spark Ablation Printing

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The current commercial loading of Platinum grade materials (PGMs) per membrane electrode assembly (MEA) stands at 2 mg/cm2, necessitating significant efforts to redesign electrocatalyst materials through a nano-architecture approach, requiring a thousandfold increase in surface area (from µm to nm scale) and a tenfold reduction in mass loading (from mg to µg). This objective can be realized through innovative surface engineering and manufacturing techniques as traditional wet synthesis methods pose several steps leading to spot errors (during ink formulation and coating) and high manufacturing costs (during drying steps) hampering scale-up efforts especially for low PGM loading < 0.5 mg/cm2 in PEM-WE.VSPARTICLE developed a nano-printing technology utilizing spark ablation. This dry-synthesis method generates nanoparticle films only by using metal rods and electricity, and immobilize nano-porous electrocatalyst thin films on any substrate. In this presentation, we will unveil the latest findings concerning oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrodes employing Ir-based and Ni-based catalysts produced through the innovative VSP-P1 nano-printing technology. The MEAs prepared using spark ablation had significantly lower loading (e.g., 0.1 and 0.4 mg/cm2) than the commercial state-of-the-art without compromising performance. The study integrates comprehensive flow-cell experiments, meticulous control tests, and characterization techniques on proxy samples, leveraging the versatility of VSP-P1 to create identical nano-porous films on various substrates. The scalability of this dry manufacturing process, coupled with rapid iteration capability for tuning material parameters and test-beds, promises a tenfold acceleration in electrocatalyst utilization.In conclusion, this presentation unveils an efficient strategy for catalyst utilization through nano-printed layers, significantly reducing the time required to bring novel materials to market. The methodology outlined herein holds great promise for advancing hydrogen deployment and sustainable transitions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors. Figure 1. a) The automated print technology in process based on NanoPrinter (P1), b) printing of Ir process, c) cross sectional and HR-SEM image of the thin film, d) PEMWE results Ir(VSP)-NPs tested at ambient temperature and pressure Figure 1