Solvent Induced Fabrication of Solid Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzer: A study in Sulfonated Poly(Ether Ether Ketone) Based Membrane Electrode Assembly

A novel solvent induced fabrication technique is developed for the preparation of the sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) based water electrolysis membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The solvent, dimethyl formamide (DMF), instead of the high pressure and temperature, is used to induce the softening of the membrane and better integration of the MEA with excellent interface compatibility. The influence of hot pressing period, the amount of polymer used in the electrode, and the temperature are investigated to optimize the performance of the MEA. The single cell performance for the water electrolysis is evaluated to optimize the fabrication parameters. It is found out that all three factors have great influences on the final cell performance and the tradeoff effects are observed due to the various states of the catalyst efficiency, TPBs, the conductivity, and cell resistance. As a result, the cell performance is optimized with the MEA fabricated at 120 °C, using the catalysts to polymer weight ratio of 5:1 and a 60s hot pressing period.