Efficient and Durable Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis for a Commercially Available Electrolyzer Stack using Alkaline Electrolyte

A low-cost anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) stack with good performance and durability is demonstrated in this study. The configuration of an AEMWE single cell, composed of an etched copper-cobalt oxide anode (eCCO) by a simple chemical etching and a polycarbazole-based anion exchange membrane (QPC-TMA) was optimized through various single-cell studies. The large-sized three-cell AEMWE stack (total active area of 190.9 cm(2)) with eCCO and QPC-TMA demonstrated durability with a degradation rate of 8.5 mV kh(-1) as well as an energy conversion efficiency of 75% for 2000 h in 0.1 M KOH at 45 degrees C. Moreover, the production rate of H-2 is reported 40.4 L h(-1), thereby being equivalent to electricity produced by H-2 of 44 kWh kg(-1). To the best of our knowledge, this AEMWE stack has the highest performance and durability among the reported AEMWE stacks using non-platinum-group metal anodes and noncommercial membranes.