Development of a membrane electrode assembly for alkaline water electrolysis by direct electrodeposition of nickel on carbon papers

Sang Hyun Ahn, Byung Seok Lee, Insoo Choi, Sung Jong Yoo, Hyoung Juhn Kim, Eun Ae Cho, Dirk Henkensmeier, Suk Woo Nam, Soo Kil Kim, Jong Hyun Jang

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    94 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for use in an alkaline water electrolyzer is fabricated by sandwiching an anion exchange membrane (AEM) between two electrodes prepared by the electrodeposition of Ni (used as a catalyst) on carbon papers (CPs) acting as gas diffusion layers. The conditions for Ni electrodepositon are determined on the basis of the results of half-cell tests for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions. An MEA fabricated by the direct electrodeposition of an extremely low Ni amount of 8.5μgNicm-2 exhibits a high cell performance of 150mAcm-2 at 1.9V when a 1.0M KOH solution is supplied to the cathode. Electrodeposited Ni is uniformly distributed on the surface of CP fibers, thereby providing a large electrochemical surface area for gas evolution reactions and thus maintaining high catalyst utilization. It is suggested that control of bubble generation and AEMs with higher ionic conductivity would further increase MEA performance.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)197-205
    Number of pages9
    JournalApplied Catalysis B: Environmental
    Volume154-155
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014 Jul

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the Korea CCS R&D Center (KCRC) grant funded by the Korea Government (Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning) (No. 2013M1A8A1038315 ).

    Keywords

    • Alkaline water electrolysis
    • Electrodeposited Ni catalyst
    • Hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions
    • Membrane electrode assembly

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Catalysis
    • General Environmental Science
    • Process Chemistry and Technology

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