(Invited) Aemion+® AEM Water Electrolysis with Excellent Iridium-Free Performance and Industrially Relevant Stability in Hot, Caustic Electrolyte
Authors: Britton Benjamin , Moreno Marta 
Published: September 2023

Hydrogen has a unique ability to maximize the utility of and enable new business models for intermittent renewable deployment. It can be stored cost-effectively in geological storage, transported between regions to suit geographic needs and bridge Dunkelflautes. Global electrolysis capacity must increase from the current <2 GW to 850 GW in 2030 (IEA Net Zero 2050) and in excess of 3500 GW in 2050 to enable this transition.

Both traditional Alkaline (AWE) and proton-exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMWE) are mature technologies that are anticipated to split the overall market share. However, each of these technologies face fundamental challenges:

AWE operate at low current density, requiring large and difficult to transport systems, require high concentration electrolytes (e.g. 30 wt% KOH) to conduct hydroxides and ensure low gas solubilities for safety, which necessitates the use of expensive and difficult to machine high-nickel steels, especially in advanced, pressurized designs. Additionally, the porous nature of the electrode separator (e.g. Zirfon) compromises the desired dynamic load for pairing with intermittent renewables.

PEMWE use a proton-conductive membrane to enable high current densities, dynamic loads, and differential hydrogen pressures, however, the most efficient operation requires iridium catalyst, which presents a near-term challenges with scalability, together with Ti and PGM structural elements that further impede cost-effectiveness.

Alkaline anion-exchange water electrolyzers (AEMWE) address both of these challenges by operating with a cohesive, hydroxide-transporting membrane together with alkaline electrolyte to enable high efficiency, high current density operation, without iridium electrocatalysts or other scarce or expensive components. The realization of capital cost-effectiveness, dynamic load, and compact systems in one technology enables the most cost-effective green hydrogen and represents a step-change in the trajectory towards the DOE Hydrogen Shot target of $1/kg.

The instability of alkaline anion exchange membrane chemistries based on quaternary amines or pendant imidazolium groups in relevant temperatures and alkalinities to industrial operations have historically resulted in untenable compromises and too-short lifetimes for industrial-scale deployment. Ionomr's Aemion+® AF2-AWP8-75-X and AF3-HWK9-75-X membranes are based on a sterically-protected imidazolium chemistries that are chemically robust (e.g. 6 months, 1 M, 80 °C without alteration to chemical or mechanical properties), and additionally exhibit low swelling to provide mechanical integrity to electrodes and enable operation in low concentration electrolytes. These membranes are an enabling technology for long-duration AEM water electrolysis.

This talk highlights how Ionomr's Aemion+® membranes demonstrate target performances (e.g. >2 A/cm² at 2 V) with non-PGM OER catalysts with no apparent losses to 1000 hours operation across several configurations at ≥70 °C and 1 M KOH operation, and several longer lifetime demonstrations including 1 year durability using AWE electrodes and >6 months including hydrogen crossover measurement. This talk further highlights the potential for the three-dimensionality of electrodes in alkaline AEMWE and the necessary processing and operational requirements to create reproducible and stable GDEs with catalyst ink-based deposition techniques.

Figure 1