Current Density–Voltage Relationships of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Depending on the Cell Components of Porous Transport Layers and Cell Sealings

Water electrolysis using a proton exchange membrane is a promising technique for chemical energy storage from renewable energies. This energy conversion efficiency improvement is essential for real use, and catalyst research has been mainly focused on it. The other cell components are not focused on in the study much. The effects of the cell structure of the porous transport layer and sealing thickness on the electrochemical properties in practical use are discussed here. The thicker and higher porosity porous transport layer was found to improve the precursor and product transport near the reacting region with a flat current distributor. The sealing also had the optimal thickness for the improvement in the electrochemical current density improvement. These results are likely influenced by the cell structure because the material transport is based on fluid dynamics and diffusion.