Energy Storage Science and Technology ›› 2023, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (9): 2811-2822.doi: 10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2023.0271

• Energy Storage Materials and Devices • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress in developing commercial anion exchange membranes for hydrogen production by water electrolysis

Xupeng YAN1(), Qichen LU1, Zhibo REN1(), Jinyi WANG1, Xiaolong Wang1, Liping LIU1, Wei WANG1, Weiqi GUO1, Peng LIU1, Fangjia LI1,2   

  1. 1.China Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, China
    2.Beijing University of Chemical Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing 100029, China
  • Received:2023-04-25 Revised:2023-05-25 Online:2023-09-05 Published:2023-09-16
  • Contact: Zhibo REN E-mail:xp_yan@qny.chng.com.cn;zb_ren@qny.chng.com.cn

Abstract:

In light of the global carbon-neutral strategy, major economies worldwide have successfully put forward hydrogen energy development plans and targets, raising the development of hydrogen energy to a strategic level. The green and low-carbon hydrogen production by water electrolysis from renewable energy sources has gained unprecedented global consensus. The novel hydrogen production technology by anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is developed based on the anion exchange membrane (AEM), combining a low-cost material system and flexible dynamic response characteristics, which holds great potential in large-scale application in the future.Futhermore, AEMWE hydrogen production technology has received widespread attention both in domestic and overseas in recent years and is close to commercial application. This paper focuses on the key materials of AEMWE hydrogen production technology, AEM, introduces the structural characteristics and physicochemical properties of the representative commercial membrane materials, and discusses the progress of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) preparation process based on AEM. This paper also highlights the performance of various commercial AEMs in the hydrogen production process by water electrolysis, analyzes the influence factor on the MEA performance in water electrolysis, and evaluates the potential in the application according to the long-time stability performance. Finally, from the industrialization perspective, the article summarizes the technical difficulties for the key AEM materials as well as possible directions in the hydrogen production field by electrolysis, and expects to provide references for developing AEMWE hydrogen production technology.

Key words: electrolysis, hydrogen production, anion exchange membrane, progress

CLC Number: