Chemically stabilised extruded and recast short side chain Aquivion ® proton exchange membranes for high current density operation in water electrolysis

Membrane-electrode assemblies based on chemically stabilised short-side-chain proton exchange Aquivion ® membranes, prepared by extrusion or recast methods, have been investigated for operation at high current density (3–4 A cm −2 ) in water electrolysis cells. A thickness of 90 μm was selected for these perfluorosulfonic acid membranes in order to provide proper resilience to hydrogen crossover under differential pressure operation while allowing operation at high currents. The membranes showed proper mechanical strength for high-pressure operation and suitable conductivity to reduce ohmic losses at high current densities. Both membranes showed excellent performance in electrolysis cells by achieving a voltage efficiency better than 85% and 80% (1.85 V) at 3 and 4 A cm −2 , respectively, in polarisation curves at 90 °C. A smaller surface roughness was observed from atomic force microscopy for the recast membrane compared to the extruded one. This may affect the intimate contact between the ionic clusters of the membrane and the catalyst agglomerate at the interface producing a catalytic enhancement in the activation region of the polarisation curves in the case of the recast membrane. At high cell voltages, the polarisation resistance was instead slightly lower for the cell based on the extruded membrane. Interestingly, the different characteristics of the membrane-electrodes interface produced lower recoverable losses in durability studies for the recast membrane-based electrolyser allowing stable operation at both 3 and 4 A cm −2 . Hydrogen crossover analysis at a differential pressure of 20 bar showed low gas permeation through both membranes allowing for a wide load range (15–100%) and high faradaic efficiency >99% at practical current densities (1–4 A cm −2 ).