Above and beyond the Lab Scale─Creating a kW-Sized AEM Electrolyzer Validated by In-Situ Distribution of Relaxation Times
Most reported anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) are currently limited to the usual 1-10 cm<sup>2</sup> electrodes in single-cell AEMWEs; however, accelerating its technology readiness level necessitates an explosive increment in unit sizes. We report the design, characterization, and validation of a 1 kW, 500 cm<sup>2</sup> (5 × 100 cm<sup>2</sup>) non-PGM AEMWE stack. Complete with corrosion protection, internal heating, and a control system, the patented stack design operated stably at 1.0 A cm<sup>-2</sup> with an energy efficiency of 53.2 kWh kg<sub>H<sub>2</sub></sub> <sup>-1</sup>. Moreover, to confirm cell-to-cell uniformity, a comprehensive statistical analysis was carried out to reveal five uniformly performing cells. Impedance analysis complemented by distribution of relaxation times (DRT) analysis revealed kinetic insights similar to those traditionally obtained for lab-scale electrodes, proving both non-PGM electrode scalability and efficacy, and the utility of DRT analysis on large-scale AEMWE stacks.
Authors
- Jan Van herle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8916-6952)
- Suhas Nuggehalli Sampathkumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6079-6475)
- Philippe Aubin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1332-8729)
- T.B. Ferriday (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0110-8537)
- Khaled Lawand
- Zoé Mury
Institutions
- University of Oslo (NO)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Energy & Fuels
- Published
- 2025-09-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5c03702
- Primary Topic
- Fuel Cells and Related Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00