%0 Conference Paper
%A Hilche, Tobias
%A Fröhlich, Kristina
%A Karl, André
%A Jodat, Eva
%A Eichel, Rüdiger-A.
%T Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy Study on Model Ex-situ Treatment of MEA Anodes for PEM Water Electrolysis
%M FZJ-2025-04657
%D 2025
%X Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis[1] is a key technology for sustainable hydrogen production as a resource and for energy storage at industrial scale. The central component of PEM water electrolyzers is the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which defines the performance efficiency and lifetime of the electrolysis cell from an electrochemical perspective. A typical approach to the assessment of MEA durability is the accelerated stress test (AST).[2] ASTs have been established as a short time approximation to the degradation process of MEAs under realistic operating conditions. However, by nature of design the impact of different stressors in early, mid and late stages of operation cannot be evaluated individually. Furthermore, any AST can only deliver valid information within its own standardized testing environment.[3]To address this issue, our group is investigating isolated parameters in-situ, i.e. in a PEM water electrolysis cell setup,[4] as well as ex-situ, where the catalyst layer (CL) electrodes of a MEA are applied in a conventional 3- or 4-electrode electrochemical setup. Ex-situ, the electrochemical performance efficiency of a CL can be investigated based on preceding treatment. In this context cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) can provide valuable information about the catalytic activity, kinetics and electrochemically active surface area, and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM)[5] – as an electrochemical imaging technique – gives insight into the homogeneity of the active surface.In our study, we present the results of the effect of different conditioning procedures on the electrochemical performance of commercial MEAs. We investigated combinations of potential cycling, chemical, potentiostatic and potentiodynamic conditioning protocols at IrOx-based anodes. The ex-situ electrochemical characterization on the conditioned anodes showed that the potentiostatic MEA conditioning has a positive impact on the anode impedance and current response. The focus will be on local properties obtained from SECM experiments.Funding: This work was financially supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF): Wasserstoff - Leitprojekt H2Giga, Teilvorhaben DERIEL (project number 03HY122C), SEGIWA (project number 03HY121B).[1] A. S. Aricò, S. Siracusano, N. Briguglio, V. Baglio, A. Di Blasi, V. Antonucci, J. Appl. Electrochem. 2013, 43, 107.[2] E. Kuhnert, V. Hacker, M. Bodner, Int. J. Energy Res. 2023, 2023, 1.[3] P. Aßmann, A. S. Gago, P. Gazdzicki, K. A. Friedrich, M. Wark, Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 2020, 21, 225.[4] N. Wolf, A. Javed, L. Treutlein, H. Kungl, A. Karl, E. Jodat, R.-A. Eichel, Electrochem. Sci. Adv. 2025, 0:e202400038.[5] D. Polcari, P. Dauphin-Ducharme, J. Mauzeroll, Chem. Rev. 2016, 116, 13234.
%B Ulm Electro Chemical Talks
%C 4 Jun 2025 - 5 Jun 2025, Ulm (Germany)
Y2 4 Jun 2025 - 5 Jun 2025
M2 Ulm, Germany
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)24
%9 Poster
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1048451