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New hope for water electrolysis: How can AEM electrolysis technology change our energy future?
As global demand for renewable energy continues to increase, traditional water electrolysis technology faces difficulties in terms of performance and cost challenges. However, the recent emergence of anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis technology seems to provide us with a new hope. This technology not only effectively splits water to produce hydrogen, but also reduces costs and reliance on rare precious metal catalysts, demonstrating its huge potential in the future energy transition.
AEM electrolysis technology provides a platform that combines the advantages of traditional alkaline water electrolysis and proton exchange membrane electrolysis.
Advantages and Challenges
Advantages
The main advantage of AEM electrolysis is that it can use low-cost transition metal catalysts instead of expensive noble metal catalysts such as platinum and bismuth. This means we are able to reduce overall production costs without compromising performance.
Compared with traditional PEM electrolysis, systems using AEM electrolysis have significant improvements in environmental impact, cost and other aspects.
Current research shows that the hydrogen crossover rate of the AEM electrolyzer can be maintained below 0.4%, and its efficiency is better than other technologies. The AEM electrolyzer can operate in pure water or slightly alkaline solutions, which not only reduces the risk of liquid leakage, but also improves the conductivity of the membrane and enhances the utilization of the catalyst.
Challenge
Although AEM electrolysis technology exhibits various advantages, it still faces some challenges, especially the durability of the membrane. Current research shows that although the life of AEM electrolyzers has reached multiple thousand hours, it is still far lower than the life of PEM electrolyzers. Therefore, how to improve the durability and ionic conductivity of AEM has become the focus of future research.
In the short term, low durability remains a major hurdle to overcome in the commercialization of AEMs.
Scientific Principles
In the AEM electrolysis reaction process, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are key chemical reactions. OER requires four electrons to produce one molecule of oxygen, and multiple OH- anions are consumed in the process. This increases the energy barrier for the reaction, which affects overall performance. In contrast, the kinetics of hydrogen evolution reactions in alkaline environments are relatively slow, requiring additional energy to break down the intermediates that release hydrogen.
Membrane electrode assembly
The structure of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is the key to the AEM electrolysis system. Composed of anode and cathode catalyst layers and an intermediate membrane layer, the preparation of the catalyst layer usually involves mixing catalyst powder and ionic polymers to create a thin film that can be applied to a membrane or substrate. Using the appropriate substrate ensures conductivity and stability, which is critical to improving overall performance.
Future Outlook
The emergence of AEM electrolysis technology may change the way we think about hydrogen energy, making it competitive in the market due to its potential cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness. As technology continues to advance, we look forward to further improvements in the durability and power of AEM electrolyzers.
In the future energy transformation, more innovative electrolysis technologies will emerge, and AEM technology is one of the bright new forces.
Can AEM electrolysis technology become the key to promoting the hydrogen economy?
