Sustainable sources of hydrogen are a key need for reducing environmental impact of chemical processes, with over 95% of hydrogen for industrial applications currently made from fossil fuels through natural gas reforming or coal gasification. Hydrogen is an important industrial gas, representing a 10 million metric tons/year industry worth $100 billion. While proton exchange membrane (PEM)-based water electrolysis has been commercially available for many years, the production scale has been too small until recently to make large impacts. Also, because of the legacy of the technology in life support applications and lower R&D investment relative to PEM fuel cells, there is still significant room for cost and efficiency improvement of PEM electrolysis through materials and manufacturing advancements.

This talk will discuss recent work in high efficiency catalysts and membranes and fundamental challenges in translating laboratory tests to manufacturable components. While catalyst composition and structure is important in understanding and increasing activity, integration is also a key part of materials and technology development. Solution data is not sufficient for predicting behavior in solid state electrolytes or interfaces with other cell components. Most laboratory experiments also do not provide sufficient information on durability beyond a screening tool for early stages of testing. A holistic approach is needed in materials, processing, and component interactions to advance the field. Current technology scale for PEM electrolysis and pathways for large scale renewable hydrogen production will also provide a framework for potential impact in the near term.