Structures and properties of polymers in ion exchange membranes for hydrogen generation by water electrolysis

Water electrolysis (WE) is an electrochemical process that splits water and forms hydrogen and oxygen, in presence of catalyst. This is a rapidly developing technology owing to its extreme importance in the generation of hydrogen. Membrane-based WE involves the use of anion exchange, proton exchange and bipolar membranes, among which the anion exchange membrane-based WE technology is in the most advanced stage, followed by the proton exchange membrane-based WE. While, the bipolar membrane-based WE is the most nascent technology. Among the different categories of membranes used, polymer-based membranes are the most acceptable ones. It is evident that the structure and properties of the polymers that constitute a membrane play the most important role in determining its applicability in WE application. Keeping this in mind, this review is dedicatedly focused on the different polymers that have been majorly used so far in fabrication of anion exchange, proton exchange, and bipolar membranes for WE, and exclusively analyzes the influence imparted by the structure and properties of the involved polymers on the final performance of the membranes.

Automated summary

Water electrolysis is a rapidly developing technology critical for hydrogen generation, with different types of membranes playing different roles, with polymer membranes being the preferred choice. The structure and properties of polymer membranes are crucial for determining the final performance of the membranes.