A Porous Skeleton-Supported Organic/Inorganic Composite Membrane for High-Efficiency Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Hydrogen energy is a truly renewable and clean energy source. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) is the most promising technology for green hydrogen production currently. In the AWE process, the critical part of an alkaline electrolyzer is the membrane, which acts to conduct hydroxide ions and block gases. However, developing low area resistance, high bubble point pressure and highly stable membrane for high-performance AWE is still a challenge. Herein, porous skeleton-supported composite membranes via the blade-coating method for advanced AWE are prepared. The porous composite membranes, besides having hydrophilic surface, also show ultra-low area resistance (approximate to 0.15 omega cm2), ultra-high bubble point pressure (approximate to 27 bar) and excellent mechanical properties (tensile stress, approximate to 14 MPa). By using commercial catalysts, the composite membranes exhibit a current density of up to 1.9 A cm-2 at the voltage of 2 V in 30 wt% KOH solution at 80 degrees C and achieve ultra-high H2 purity (up to 99.996%) when applied in AWE. Notably, the composite membrane can operate for more than 1600 h without performance attenuation, demonstrating excellent stability. This study opens up the feasibility of preparing high-performance AWE membranes for large-scale hydrogen production. A robust porous skeleton-supported organic/inorganic composite membrane with high bubble point pressure, low area resistance, and high stability, is prepared for highly efficient alkaline water electrolysis, the electrolyzer equipped with the composite membrane reaches a current density of 1.9 A cm-2 at 2 V and generates hydrogen with high purity up to 99.996%. This study opens up the feasibility of preparing high-performance alkaline water electrolysis membranes for large-scale hydrogen production.image

Automated summary

This study presents a porous skeleton-supported organic/inorganic composite membrane with high bubble point pressure, low area resistance, and high stability for efficient alkaline water electrolysis. The electrolyzer equipped with the composite membrane achieves a current density of 1.9 A cm-2 at 2 V and generates hydrogen with high purity up to 99.996%. This research opens up possibilities for preparing high-performance alkaline water electrolysis membranes for large-scale hydrogen production.