Performance and Durability of Membrane-Electrode Assemblies Using Non-Precious Metal Catalyst and a Hydrocarbon-Based Electrolyte for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis
Authors: Takahashi Sayaka , Iwataki Toshio , Tano Tetsuro , Asakawa Takayuki , Kakinuma Katsuyoshi , Miyatake Kenji , Uchida Makoto 
Published: February 2024

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is operated in an alkaline environment and has a similar membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) structure to that of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). The use of non-noble metals as the electrocatalysts and operation at high current densities are inherently possible, so they are expected to be low-cost, high-performance candidates for next-generation water electrolysis systems. Improving the anion conductivity of the AEM and the activity of the non-precious metal catalysts is essential for the practical application of AEMWEs.1 The non-noble electrocatalysts used in the MEA in this study were Ni0.8Co0.2O2 and Ni0.8Fe0.2O,3 which have a fused-aggregate network structure, and the electrolyte was a hydrocarbon-based AEM (QPAF-4)4, all of which were developed at the University of Yamanashi.

The catalyst ink for the anodes was prepared by mixing the Ni0.8Co0.2O catalyst (University of Yamanashi) with solvent (water/methanol) and QPAF-4 (IEC = 2.0 meq g-1, University of Yamanashi) binder solution. The anode ink was coated by using pulse-swirl-spray (PSS, Nordson) on the QPAF-4 membranes (IEC = 1.5 meq g-1) to make the catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) with the anode. Catalyst inks for the cathodes was prepared by mixing Ni0.8Fe0.2O catalyst (University of Yamanashi) or Pt/CB catalyst (TEC10E50E, Tanaka Kikinzoku) with solvent (water/methanol) and QPAF-4 (IEC = 2.0 meq g-1) binder solution. The cathode ink was coated by using PSS on the gas diffusion layer (GDL, TGP-H-120, Toray) to make the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) for the cathodes. Ni mesh (Bekaert.co.jp) was used for the anode GDLs. The single cell (Figure 1, cell structure developed by Yokohama National University) performances were measured while supplying 1 M KOH at 80 °C to both electrodes.

Figure 2 (a) shows the I-V performance of cells using Ni0.8Co0.2O for the anode and Ni0.8Fe0.2O or Pt/CB for the cathode. The electrolysis voltage observed for the cell with non-noble metal catalysts on both electrodes was higher than that for the cell with Pt/C on the cathode but was below 2 V at a current density of 1.2 A cm-2. The value of the onset electrolysis voltage was nearly the same as that of the corresponding rotating disk electrode,3 suggesting that the intrinsic performance of the cathode catalyst is being realized in the MEA. Increasing the amount of the cathodic catalyst loading scarcely affected the polarization. It is supposed that the fused-aggregate network structure of the Ni0.8Fe0.2O catalyst contributes to the favorable mass transfer. Figure 2 (b) shows the time dependence of the cell voltage of these cells. The increased loading amount improved the durability of the cathode. It is considered that the increase in the thickness of the cathode catalyst layer alleviated the damage of the GDL fibers to the membrane.

These results indicate the possibility of adopting non-precious metal catalysts for both electrodes in AEMWE and thereby significantly reducing the catalyst cost.

Acknowledgement

This work was partially supported by NEDO of Japan through the AWE-1 project.

References

1) A. Lim et al., J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 76, 410 (2019).

2) G. Shi et al., ACS Catal., 12, 14209 (2022).

3) G. Shi et al., ACS Omega, 8, 13068 (2023).

4) H. Ono et al., J. Mater.
Chem. A, 5, 24804 (2017).

Figure 1