The Influence of Catalyst Loading on Electrocatalytic Activity and Hydrogen Production in PEM Water Electrolysis
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Keywords:
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Cu2O/C, PEMWE, Electrolysis, Hydrogen Production
Abstract
The climate change caused by the widespread and continuous use of fossil fuels is a problem that needs to be addressed urgently. One of the solutions offered is through an energy transition towards the use of new or renewable and low-carbon fuels. Hydrogen gas as a carrier of energy is an alternative solution that has attracted the attention of researchers, due to its high combustion energy and environmental friendliness. The production of hydrogen gas using the Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE) method is considered effective for large-scale production. This study investigates the impact of catalyst loading and various current densities on hydrogen production in the PEM water electrolysis process, utilizing the Cu2O/C catalyst. This study investigates the impact of catalyst loading and different current densities on hydrogen production in the PEM water electrolysis process, utilizing the Cu2O/C catalyst. The electrode catalytic properties were evaluated using the Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) method to determine the Electrochemical Surface Area (ECSA) and the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) method to determine the electrical conductivity. The ECSA and EIS measurements demonstrated that the best results were obtained at a higher catalyst loading of 2 mg/cm2 with an ECSA value of 0.21 m2/g and electrical conductivity of 3.04 × 10−6 S/cm. The production of hydrogen results showed that the highest hydrogen production rate was 3.75 mL/s with a catalyst loading of 2.5 mg/cm2, indicating that increasing the load could lead to a higher rate of hydrogen gas production, but this is highly dependent on the surface area utilized. Additionally, at higher current densities, the cell resistance in the electrolysis process may decrease, leading to reduced electrode efficiency for hydrogen production. Thus, the use of high currents may not always be advantageous in hydrogen production using the PEM water electrolysis method.
References
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Eris, S., Z. Daşdelen, and F. Sen (2018). Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability of Monodisperse Pt Nanocomposites for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 513(March); 767-773
Juodkazyte, J., B. Šebeka, I. Savickaja, A. Selskis, V. Jasulai- ˙tiene, and P. Kalinauskas (2013). Evaluation of Electrochemically Active Surface Area of Photosensitive Copper Oxide Nanostructures with Extremely High Surface Roughness. Electrochimica Acta, 98(May); 109–115
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Kumar, S. S. and V. Himabindu (2019). Hydrogen Production by Pem Water Electrolysis–A Review. Materials Science for Energy Technologies, 2(3); 442–454
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Lee, B., K. Park, and H. M. Kim (2013). Dynamic Simulation of PEM Water Electrolysis and Comparison with Experiments. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 8(1); 235–248
Li, S., C. Peng, Q. Shen, Y. Cheng, C. Wang, and G. Yang (2023). Numerical Study on Thermal Stress of High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells during Start-Up Process. Membranes, 13(2); 215
Lopata, J., Z. Kang, J. Young, G. Bender, J. Weidner, and S. Shimpalee (2020). Effects of the Transport/Catalyst Layer Interface and Catalyst Loading on Mass and Charge Transport Phenomena in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis Devices. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 167(6); 064507
Maillard, F., S. Schreier, M. Hanzlik, E. R. Savinova, S. Weinkauf, and U. Stimming (2005). Influence of Particle Agglomeration on the Catalytic Activity of Carbon-Supported Pt Nanoparticles in CO Monolayer Oxidation.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 7(2); 385–393
Majlan, E., D. Rohendi, W. Daud, T. Husaini, and M. Haque (2018). Electrode for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: A Review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 89(June); 117–134
Maric, R. and H. Yu (2019). Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis As a Promising Technology for Hydrogen Production and Energy Storage. IntechOpen Liverpool, UK
Nouri-Khorasani, A., E. T. Ojong, T. Smolinka, and D. P. Wilkinson (2017). Model of Oxygen Bubbles and Performance Impact in the Porous Transport Layer of PEM Water Electrolysis Cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(48); 28665–28680
Porciúncula, C., N. Marcilio, I. Tessaro, and M. Gerchmann (2012). Production of Hydrogen in the Reaction between Aluminum and Water in the Presence of NaOH and KOH. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 29(2); 337–348
Rohendi, D., E. Majlan, A. Mohamad, W. Daud, A. Kadhum, and L. Shyuan (2015). Effects of Temperature and Backpressure on the Performance Degradation of MEA in PEMFC. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(34); 10960–10968
Rohendi, D., N. Syarif, A. Rachmat, D. Mersitarini, D. Ardiyanta, W. H. Erliana, I. Mahendra, D. H. Yulianti, I. Amelia, and M. A. R. Reo (2022). Effect of Milling Time and PCA on Electrode Properties of Cu2O-ZnO/C Catalyst Alloy used on Electrochemical Reduction Method of CO2. International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 14(2); 186–192
Rohendi, D., N. F. Sya’baniah, E. H. Majlan, N. Syarif, A. Rachmat, D. H. Yulianti, I. Amelia, D. Ardiyanta, I. Mahendra, and R. W. H. Erliana (2023). The Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 into Methanol with KHCO3 Electrolyte Using Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Science and Technology Indonesia, 8(4); 632–639
Russel, I. (2018). Water Electrolysis–Technology Development. Elsevier
Saadi, K., S. S. Hardisty, Z. Tatus-Portnoy, and D. Zitoun (2022). Influence of Loading, Metallic Surface State and Surface Protection in Precious Group Metal Hydrogen Electrocatalyst for H2/Br2 Redox-Flow Batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 536(April); 231494
Sasmal, A. K., S. Dutta, and T. Pal (2016). A ternary Cu2O Cu CuO nanocomposite: a catalyst with intriguing activity. Dalton Transactions, 45(7); 3139–3150
Sharaf, S. M. (2020). Smart Conductive Textile. In Advances in functional and protective textiles. Elsevier, pages 141–167
Sharma, R., S. Gyergyek, and S. M. Andersen (2022). Critical Thinking on Baseline Corrections for Electrochemical Surface Area (ECSA) Determination of Pt/c through H-Adsorption/h-Desorption Regions of a Cyclic Voltam-mogram. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 311(August); 121351
Singh, D. and R. Ahuja (2021). Theoretical Prediction of a BiDoped -Antimonene Monolayer As a Highly Efficient Photocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction and Overall Water Splitting. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(47); 56254–56264
Smolinka, T. (2009). Water Electrolysis, chapter Fuel Hydrogen Production. pages 394–413
Soderberg, J. N., A. C. Co, A. H. Sirk, and V. I. Birss (2006). Impact of Porous Electrode Properties on the Electrochemical Transfer Coefficient. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 110(21); 10401–10410
Sun, H., H. Kim, S. Song, and W. Jung (2022). Copper Foam-Derived Electrodes As Efficient Electrocatalysts for Conventional and Hybrid Water Electrolysis. Materials Reports: Energy, 2(2); 100092
Tang, Y., Q. Liu, L. Dong, H. B. Wu, and X. Y. Yu (2020). Activating the Hydrogen Evolution and Overall Water Splitting Performance of NiFe LDH by Cation Doping and Plasma Reduction. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 266(January); 118627
Wang, C., Z. Feng, Y. Zhao, X. Li, W. Li, X. Xie, S. Wang, and H. Hou (2017). Preparation and Properties of Ion Exchange Membranes for PEMFC with Sulfonic and Carboxylic Acid Groups Based on Polynorbornenes. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(50); 29988–29994
Wang, J., Y. Hu, F. Wang, Y. Yan, Y. Chen, M. Shao, Q. Wu, S. Zhu, G. Diao, and M. Chen (2023). Development of Copper Foam-Based Composite Catalysts for Electrolysis of Water and Beyond. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 7(7); 1604–1626
Xu, X., Q. Zhou, and D. Yu (2022). The Future of Hydrogen Energy: Bio-Hydrogen Production Technology. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 47(79); 33677–33698
Xue, Q., R. Zhang, D. Yang, B. Li, P. Ming, and C. Zhang (2022). Effect of Ionomer Content on Cathode Catalyst Layer for PEMFC Via Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Experiments. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 47(55); 23335–23347
Yıldız, Y., H. Pamuk, Ö. Karatepe, Z. Dasdelen, and F. Sen (2016). Retracted Article: Carbon Black Hybrid Material Furnished Monodisperse Platinum Nanoparticles As Highly Efficient and Reusable Electrocatalysts for Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation. RSC Advances, 6(39); 32858–32862
Yu, L., S. Sun, H. Li, and Z. J. Xu (2021). Effects of Catalyst Mass Loading on Electrocatalytic Activity: An Example of Oxygen Evolution Reaction. Fundamental Research, 1(4); 448–452
Yuan, S., C. Zhao, X. Cai, L. An, S. Shen, X. Yan, and J. Zhang (2023). Bubble Evolution and Transport in PEM Water Electrolysis: Mechanism, Impact, and Management. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 96(August); 101075
Zahoor, A., A. Maqbool, M. A. Hussain, R. A. Pashameah, A. Shahzadi, N. Nazar, S. Iqbal, A. K. Alanazi, M. N. Ashiq, and H. M. Abo Dief (2023). One-Pot Solvothermal Synthesis of Highly Catalytic Janus Transition Metal Phosphides (TMPs) for High Performance Oer. Fuel, 331(September); 125913
Zhang, F., F. Cheng, C. Cheng, M. Guo, Y. Liu, Y. Miao, F. Gao, and X. Wang (2022). Preparation and Electrical Conductivity of (Zr, Hf, Pr, Y, La) O High Entropy Fluorite Oxides. Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 105(April); 122–130
Zhang, X., S. Yu, M. Wang, S. Dong, J. Parbey, T. Li, and M. Andersson (2020). Thermal Stress Analysis at the Interface of Cathode and Electrolyte in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 118(November); 104831
Bagal, I. V., N. R. Chodankar, M. A. Hassan, A. Waseem, M. A. Johar, D. H. Kim, and S. W. Ryu (2019). Cu2O As an Emerging Photocathode for Solar Water Splitting-A Status Review. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(39); 21351–21378
Bhandari, R., C. A. Trudewind, and P. Zapp (2014). Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrogen Production Via Electrolysis–A Review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 85(December); 151–163
Buelvas, W. L., K. Ávila, and A. Jiménez (2014). Temperature As a Factor Determining on Water Electrolysis. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, 7(1); 5–9
Bugayong, J. N. G. (2014). Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 on Supported Cu2O Catalysts. Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Carmo, M., G. P. Keeley, D. Holtz, T. Grube, M. Robinius, M. Müller, and D. Stolten (2019). PEM Water Electrolysis: Innovative Approaches Towards Catalyst Separation, Recovery and Recycling. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(7); 3450–3455
Eris, S., Z. Daşdelen, and F. Sen (2018). Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability of Monodisperse Pt Nanocomposites for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 513(March); 767-773
Juodkazyte, J., B. Šebeka, I. Savickaja, A. Selskis, V. Jasulai- ˙tiene, and P. Kalinauskas (2013). Evaluation of Electrochemically Active Surface Area of Photosensitive Copper Oxide Nanostructures with Extremely High Surface Roughness. Electrochimica Acta, 98(May); 109–115
Kadier, A., Y. Simayi, P. Abdeshahian, N. F. Azman, K. Chandrasekhar, and M. S. Kalil (2016). A Comprehensive Review of Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MEC) Reactor Designs and Configurations for Sustainable Hydrogen Gas Production. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 55(1); 427–443
Kovač, A., M. Paranos, and D. Marciuš (2021). Hydrogen in Energy Transition: A Review. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 46(16); 10016–10035
Kumar, S. S. and V. Himabindu (2019). Hydrogen Production by Pem Water Electrolysis–A Review. Materials Science for Energy Technologies, 2(3); 442–454
Lai, Q., M. Paskevicius, D. A. Sheppard, C. E. Buckley, A. W. Thornton, M. R. Hill, Q. Gu, J. Mao, Z. Huang, and H. K. Liu (2015). Hydrogen Storage Materials for Mobile and Stationary Applications: Current State of the Art. ChemSusChem, 8(17); 2789–2825
Lee, B., K. Park, and H. M. Kim (2013). Dynamic Simulation of PEM Water Electrolysis and Comparison with Experiments. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 8(1); 235–248
Li, S., C. Peng, Q. Shen, Y. Cheng, C. Wang, and G. Yang (2023). Numerical Study on Thermal Stress of High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells during Start-Up Process. Membranes, 13(2); 215
Lopata, J., Z. Kang, J. Young, G. Bender, J. Weidner, and S. Shimpalee (2020). Effects of the Transport/Catalyst Layer Interface and Catalyst Loading on Mass and Charge Transport Phenomena in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis Devices. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 167(6); 064507
Maillard, F., S. Schreier, M. Hanzlik, E. R. Savinova, S. Weinkauf, and U. Stimming (2005). Influence of Particle Agglomeration on the Catalytic Activity of Carbon-Supported Pt Nanoparticles in CO Monolayer Oxidation.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 7(2); 385–393
Majlan, E., D. Rohendi, W. Daud, T. Husaini, and M. Haque (2018). Electrode for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: A Review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 89(June); 117–134
Maric, R. and H. Yu (2019). Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis As a Promising Technology for Hydrogen Production and Energy Storage. IntechOpen Liverpool, UK
Nouri-Khorasani, A., E. T. Ojong, T. Smolinka, and D. P. Wilkinson (2017). Model of Oxygen Bubbles and Performance Impact in the Porous Transport Layer of PEM Water Electrolysis Cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(48); 28665–28680
Porciúncula, C., N. Marcilio, I. Tessaro, and M. Gerchmann (2012). Production of Hydrogen in the Reaction between Aluminum and Water in the Presence of NaOH and KOH. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 29(2); 337–348
Rohendi, D., E. Majlan, A. Mohamad, W. Daud, A. Kadhum, and L. Shyuan (2015). Effects of Temperature and Backpressure on the Performance Degradation of MEA in PEMFC. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(34); 10960–10968
Rohendi, D., N. Syarif, A. Rachmat, D. Mersitarini, D. Ardiyanta, W. H. Erliana, I. Mahendra, D. H. Yulianti, I. Amelia, and M. A. R. Reo (2022). Effect of Milling Time and PCA on Electrode Properties of Cu2O-ZnO/C Catalyst Alloy used on Electrochemical Reduction Method of CO2. International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 14(2); 186–192
Rohendi, D., N. F. Sya’baniah, E. H. Majlan, N. Syarif, A. Rachmat, D. H. Yulianti, I. Amelia, D. Ardiyanta, I. Mahendra, and R. W. H. Erliana (2023). The Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 into Methanol with KHCO3 Electrolyte Using Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Science and Technology Indonesia, 8(4); 632–639
Russel, I. (2018). Water Electrolysis–Technology Development. Elsevier
Saadi, K., S. S. Hardisty, Z. Tatus-Portnoy, and D. Zitoun (2022). Influence of Loading, Metallic Surface State and Surface Protection in Precious Group Metal Hydrogen Electrocatalyst for H2/Br2 Redox-Flow Batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 536(April); 231494
Sasmal, A. K., S. Dutta, and T. Pal (2016). A ternary Cu2O Cu CuO nanocomposite: a catalyst with intriguing activity. Dalton Transactions, 45(7); 3139–3150
Sharaf, S. M. (2020). Smart Conductive Textile. In Advances in functional and protective textiles. Elsevier, pages 141–167
Sharma, R., S. Gyergyek, and S. M. Andersen (2022). Critical Thinking on Baseline Corrections for Electrochemical Surface Area (ECSA) Determination of Pt/c through H-Adsorption/h-Desorption Regions of a Cyclic Voltam-mogram. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 311(August); 121351
Singh, D. and R. Ahuja (2021). Theoretical Prediction of a BiDoped -Antimonene Monolayer As a Highly Efficient Photocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction and Overall Water Splitting. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(47); 56254–56264
Smolinka, T. (2009). Water Electrolysis, chapter Fuel Hydrogen Production. pages 394–413
Soderberg, J. N., A. C. Co, A. H. Sirk, and V. I. Birss (2006). Impact of Porous Electrode Properties on the Electrochemical Transfer Coefficient. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 110(21); 10401–10410
Sun, H., H. Kim, S. Song, and W. Jung (2022). Copper Foam-Derived Electrodes As Efficient Electrocatalysts for Conventional and Hybrid Water Electrolysis. Materials Reports: Energy, 2(2); 100092
Tang, Y., Q. Liu, L. Dong, H. B. Wu, and X. Y. Yu (2020). Activating the Hydrogen Evolution and Overall Water Splitting Performance of NiFe LDH by Cation Doping and Plasma Reduction. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 266(January); 118627
Wang, C., Z. Feng, Y. Zhao, X. Li, W. Li, X. Xie, S. Wang, and H. Hou (2017). Preparation and Properties of Ion Exchange Membranes for PEMFC with Sulfonic and Carboxylic Acid Groups Based on Polynorbornenes. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(50); 29988–29994
Wang, J., Y. Hu, F. Wang, Y. Yan, Y. Chen, M. Shao, Q. Wu, S. Zhu, G. Diao, and M. Chen (2023). Development of Copper Foam-Based Composite Catalysts for Electrolysis of Water and Beyond. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 7(7); 1604–1626
Xu, X., Q. Zhou, and D. Yu (2022). The Future of Hydrogen Energy: Bio-Hydrogen Production Technology. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 47(79); 33677–33698
Xue, Q., R. Zhang, D. Yang, B. Li, P. Ming, and C. Zhang (2022). Effect of Ionomer Content on Cathode Catalyst Layer for PEMFC Via Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Experiments. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 47(55); 23335–23347
Yıldız, Y., H. Pamuk, Ö. Karatepe, Z. Dasdelen, and F. Sen (2016). Retracted Article: Carbon Black Hybrid Material Furnished Monodisperse Platinum Nanoparticles As Highly Efficient and Reusable Electrocatalysts for Formic Acid Electro-Oxidation. RSC Advances, 6(39); 32858–32862
Yu, L., S. Sun, H. Li, and Z. J. Xu (2021). Effects of Catalyst Mass Loading on Electrocatalytic Activity: An Example of Oxygen Evolution Reaction. Fundamental Research, 1(4); 448–452
Yuan, S., C. Zhao, X. Cai, L. An, S. Shen, X. Yan, and J. Zhang (2023). Bubble Evolution and Transport in PEM Water Electrolysis: Mechanism, Impact, and Management. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 96(August); 101075
Zahoor, A., A. Maqbool, M. A. Hussain, R. A. Pashameah, A. Shahzadi, N. Nazar, S. Iqbal, A. K. Alanazi, M. N. Ashiq, and H. M. Abo Dief (2023). One-Pot Solvothermal Synthesis of Highly Catalytic Janus Transition Metal Phosphides (TMPs) for High Performance Oer. Fuel, 331(September); 125913
Zhang, F., F. Cheng, C. Cheng, M. Guo, Y. Liu, Y. Miao, F. Gao, and X. Wang (2022). Preparation and Electrical Conductivity of (Zr, Hf, Pr, Y, La) O High Entropy Fluorite Oxides. Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 105(April); 122–130
Zhang, X., S. Yu, M. Wang, S. Dong, J. Parbey, T. Li, and M. Andersson (2020). Thermal Stress Analysis at the Interface of Cathode and Electrolyte in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 118(November); 104831
Authors
Rohendi, D., Amelia, I., Sya'baniah, N. F. ., Yulianti, D. H., Syarif, N., Rachmat, A., Fatmawati, & Majlan, E. H. (2024). The Influence of Catalyst Loading on Electrocatalytic Activity and Hydrogen Production in PEM Water Electrolysis. Science and Technology Indonesia, 9(3), 556–564. https://doi.org/10.26554/sti.2024.9.3.556-564
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