Key technology advancements for PEM water electrolysis: A comprehensive review

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is essential for green hydrogen production and building a hydrogen-based economy. Advancing its key technologies is critical to enabling large-scale, cost-effective hydrogen generation. The key technologies driving the development of PEMWE were systematically analyzed in the present paper. This review systematically examines the technological drivers of PEMWE development, with a focus on structural innovations in membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) and bipolar plates (BP)—particularly in catalyst layers (CL) and porous transport layers (PTL) to improve performance and lower cost. Furthermore, the PEMWE operational aspects, including advanced bubble management strategies for efficient gas removal and operational improvements through optimized parameters and dynamic loading was explored. The integration of PEMWE with fluctuating renewable energy was also explored, and underscores the crucial role of multi-physical field modeling and simulation in understanding internal mechanisms and engineering research and development. Finally, the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) is discussed for accelerating the PEMWE design and optimization of materials, components, and system control. This work provides valuable theoretical guidance for overcoming existing challenges and promoting the large-scale, efficient application of PEMWE technology.