Catalyst Development by a Novel Fabrication Process for Energy Applications

Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) have the ability to produce clean, high-purity hydrogen gas which could be used for a wide variety of applications, such as energy storage, transportation, and as a feedstock for the production of high-value chemicals. This thesis will examine the performance of low-loaded PEMWEs and develop a model that will break down the sources of overpotential which decrease the cell performance. This overpotential analysis will be able to guide researchers to examine what aspects of the PEMWE need to be improved in order to further improve the performance of the PEMWE. In addition to performance, the PEMWE must be able to be operated safely at any desired operating condition. An important metric to examine is the crossover of hydrogen gas through the membrane into the anode where oxygen is produced. This gas crossover can cause a safety hazard if too much hydrogen mixes with the oxygen in the anode and it can also decrease the cell performance. This thesis will introduce a recombination layer within the membrane which can react the hydrogen and oxygen crossing through the membrane to form water. This reaction will be examined through the development of a unique PEMWE cell developed by RSDT and a mechanism for the recombination reaction will be proposed. The concepts of a low-loaded PEMWE cell and recombination layer will then be combined to show how RSDT can be used to develop cost-effective, safe PEMWEs that can operate at a wide range of operating conditions with high-performance, high-durability, and with minimized gas crossover.