Environmental implications of reducing the platinum group metal loading in fuel cells and electrolysers: Anion exchange membrane versus proton exchange membrane cells

Abstract

Using substantial amounts of platinum group metals (PGM) is one main obstacle to mass-market application of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells (FC) and electrolysers (EL). Aiming to develop cells with lower PGM contents, low-PGM anion exchange membrane (AEM) cells were developed in an EU-funded project. Environmental impacts are compared to state-of-the-art PEM-FC (two reference years) and PEM-EL applications in a life cycle assessment covering 27 impact categories. While having a lower PGM loading, environmental impacts of the AEM-FC are higher in 26 out of the 27 impact categories than the PEM-FC 2020. Increasing performance and lifetime in sensitivity analyses resulted in more similar environmental performance. The AEM-EL has a lower environmental impact than the PEM-EL in 24 impact categories, including climate change. Considering their low technology readiness level, the findings are promising for the technological roadmap of AEM technology for low-PGM FC and EL.