Carolin Igel

PhD Student

A promising alternative for hydrogen production is Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (AEMWE), combining the advantages of both Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE) and Alkaline Water Electrolysis (AWE). The alkaline environment enables the utilization of cost-effective catalysts and hardware, facilitating operation at high current densities to yield high-purity hydrogen. However, still being an immature technique arising in the current decade, more research effort must be drawn toward the electrochemical behavior of new materials, particularly electrocatalysts, under the conditions of both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Consequently, my PhD project aims to investigate the activity and stability of electrocatalysts in AEMWE. My approach involves a comparative analysis of electrocatalyst performance and stability measured in aqueous model systems, such as scanning flow cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SFC-ICP-MS) and the gas diffusion electrode (GDE), to that achieved in a single-cell electrolyzer. Emphasis will be placed on the development and benchmarking of the zero-gap GDE setup alongside the model electrolyzer station. Through this evaluation, the objective is to advance the comprehension not only of the activity and stability of catalysts in AEMWE but also of the variances or congruencies inherent in these diverse testing methods.