Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers have been successfully demonstrated for hydrogen gas production from water using renewable electricity. It has some favourable characteristics such as high-power density, higher efficiency, direct operation using pure water, and the ability to track the renewable electricity more dynamically. It does have a few drawbacks such as the high cost and dependence on critical minerals and membrane materials. PEM water electrolyzers use high-cost catalyst materials such as iridium dioxide and environmentally un-friendly materials such as perfluorosulfonic acid (Nafion®) membranes. This project will focus on developing a prototypical PEM water electrolyzer with thrifted iridium catalyst loadings and thinner Nafion® based membrane materials to decrease the Capital Expense (CapEx). We will analyse the advantages and the drawbacks of the low-CapEx PEM water electrolyzer based on the experimental data.

(Experimental)