Hydrogen: Breakthrough in alkaline membrane electrolyzers

Alkaline Membrane (AEM) Electrolysers without Iridium

Now, research teams from TU Berlin and HZB, together with the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg and Siemens Energy, have presented the first AEM electrolyser that produces hydrogen almost as efficiently as a PEM electrolyser. Instead of iridium, they used nickel double hydroxide compounds with iron, cobalt or manganese and developed a process to coat them directly onto an alkaline ion exchange membrane.

Insight into molecular processes during electrolysis at BESSY II

During the electrolysis in the cell, they were able to carry out operando measurements at the Berlin X-ray source BESSY II at the LiXEdrom end station. A theory team from Singapore and the USA helped to interpret the experimental data. 'This enabled us to elucidate the relevant catalytic-chemical processes at the catalyst-coated membrane, in particular the phase transition from a catalytically inactive alpha phase to a highly active gamma phase and the role of the various O ligands and Ni⁴⁺ centres in the catalysis,' explains Prof. Peter Strasser, TU Berlin. 'It is this gamma phase that makes our catalyst competitive with the current state-of-the-art iridium catalysts. Our work shows important similarities to iridium in the catalytic mechanism, but also some surprising molecular differences.'

The study has thus significantly advanced our understanding of the fundamental catalysis mechanisms of the new nickel-based electrode materials. In addition, the newly developed coating method for the membrane electrode promises excellent scalability. A first fully functional laboratory cell has already been tested at IMTEK. The work lays the foundation for further industrial evaluation and demonstrates that an AEM water electrolyser can also be highly efficient.