Green H2 Production by Water Electrolysis Using Cation Exchange Membrane: Insights on Activation and Ohmic Polarization Phenomena

Low-temperature electrolysis by using polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) can play animportant role in hydrogen energy transition. This work presents a study on the performance of aproton exchange membrane in the water electrolysis process at room temperature and atmosphericpressure. In the perspective of applications that need a device with small volume and low weight, aminiaturized electrolysis cell with a 36 cm2active area of PEM over a total surface area of 76 cm2of thedevice was used. H2and O2production rates, electrical power, energy efficiency, Faradaic efficiencyand polarization curves were determined for all experiments. The effects of different parameters suchas clamping pressure and materials of the electrodes on polarization phenomena were studied. ThePEM used was a catalyst-coated membrane (Ir-Pt-Nafion(TM)117 CCM). The maximum H2productionwas about 0.02 g min-1with a current density of 1.1 A cm-2and a current power about 280 W.Clamping pressure and the type of electrode materials strongly influence the activation and ohmicpolarization phenomena. High clamping pressure and electrodes in titanium compared to carbonelectrodes improve the cell performance, and this results in lower ohmic and activation resistances (PDF) Green H2 Production by Water Electrolysis Using Cation Exchange Membrane: Insights on Activation and Ohmic Polarization Phenomena.