Nanoporous Iridium Nanosheets for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Electrolysis

Abstract

The growth of the hydrogen economy is predicated on advancements in electrochemical energy technologies, with water electrolysis as a key component to the technological portfolio. Much of the focus on anode catalyst development for polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE) is centered on activity as controlled by compositional and morphological impacts on reactant/intermediate/product adsorption. However, the effectiveness of this strategy is found to be limited upon integration of these materials into PEMWE membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). Regardless of catalyst activity, the combination of electrode inhomogeneity, ionomer integration, and high density of oxide–oxide interfaces yields significant performance losses associated with poor catalytic electrode conductivity. Here many of these limitations are addressed through the development of a unique catalyst morphology composed of nanoporous Ir nanosheets (npIr _x ‐NS) that exhibit high catalytic activity for the anodic oxygen evolution reaction and superior electrode electronic conductivity in comparison to a commercial IrO ₂ nanoparticle catalyst. The utility of the npIr _x ‐NS is demonstrated through incorporation into PEMWE MEAs where their performance exceeds that of commercial catalyst coated membranes at loadings as low as 0.06 mg _Ir cm ⁻² while exhibiting a negligible loss in performance following 50 000 accelerated stress test cycles.