Degradation studies of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells with low platinum group metals – Catalyst coating achieved by atomic layer deposition

B. Sánchez Batalla, A. Laube, A. Hofer, T. Struckmann, J. Bachmann, C. Weidlich

Int. J. Hydrog. Energy, (2022) 47, 94, 29719, doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.09.159

Activity and durability of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis single cell, assembled with porous transport electrodes (PTEs) with a low catalyst loading were investigated for 500 h. A current density of 160 mA/cm² and a high mass activity of 1368 A/g_Ir were achieved while operating at 60 °C with 1 mol/L sulfuric acid. The degradation of the cell was characterized using different electrochemical and physicochemical methods before, during and after operation of the electrolysis cell and a mean degradation rate for the cell of 67 μV/h was determined at 15 mA/cm². To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that long-term performance of a PEM water electrolysis cell assembled with PTEs coated by ALD is investigated.

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