(Invited) Importance of Benchmarking and Protocol Development As Part of the Hydrogen Energy Materials Network in Advanced Water Splitting

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Hydrogen generation via splitting of water molecules will be an essential part of global decarbonization, both to displace hydrogen feedstocks currently derived from hydrocarbons and used in existing industrial processes, as well as for new hydrogen applications such as transportation and energy storage. In the near future, high and low temperature electrolysis (HTE and LTE) will be the dominant pathways, but other early stage technologies such as photoelectrochemical (PEC) and solar thermochemical (STCH) conversion pathways may also play a role in the coming decades. As all of these technologies develop and more researchers enter the field, it is important to have consistent comparisons from lab to lab, for more accurate assessments of new materials and components. In order to accomplish this consistency, standard testing protocols and materials are needed, in order to validate results from experimental materials.The US Department of Energy established an Energy Materials Network for advanced water splitting in 2014, called HydroGEN. The HydroGEN EMN covers all of the above water splitting technologies (LTE, HTE, PEC, and STCH), and has helped to foster collaboration between academic and industrial researchers and experts in the National Labs. As part of HydroGEN, a Benchmarking team was also funded to develop a framework of protocols and standards for the community to use in comparing results. The team has members from all 4 water splitting technologies, to leverage synergies between technologies as well as to drive consistency in philosophy in developing benchmarks.Important considerations in setting up protocols and standards include accessibility and stability. To be effective, protocols need to be clear enough to be replicated easily, from sufficient definition of parameters to user friendly test cells that ensure consistent experimental set up. Similarly, benchmarks which are going to be used for comparison do not necessarily need to be the best performing materials, but need to be available to all researchers and consistent from lot to lot. This talk will discuss the efforts completed under the HydroGEN Benchmarking project, as well as future needs.