(452a) High-Temperature Ionomers for Electrochemical Hydrogen Pumps

The 2020s will be the decade of hydrogen. It is not only an important fuel for heavy duty vehicle transportation but is also vital to decarbonizing chemical and materials manufacturing – e.g., steel and fertilizer production. This presentation covers our recent work investigating electrode ionomer binders for high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) electrochemical fuel cells and hydrogen pumps. The latter technology purifies and compresses hydrogen from gas mixtures. I will present our experimental framework to deconvolute various kinetic, ohmic, and transport related resistances that arise from binder chemistry selection for HT-PEM electrodes. The ionomer materials studied are phosphonic acid ionomers and phosphonic acid ionomers blended with perfluorosulfonic acid ionomers. Interdigitated electrode arrays decorated with a thin film of nanoscale electrocatalysts are used to determine how the said ionomers influence kinetic, ohmic, and transport related resistances. The talk will provide an outlook of electrochemical hydrogen pump technology for storing and distributing hydrogen in the natural gas pipeline to alleviate hydrogen transportation costs.