Sustainion® Membranes have the highest reported conductivity1 and the longest reported lifetime2 in AEM water and CO2 electrolyzers. They are available in many different configurations as shown in the table below.
1B. Motealleh, Z. Liu, R.I. Masel, J.P. Sculley, Z. Richard Ni, and L. Meroueh, Next-generation anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers operating for commercially relevant lifetimes Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 2021. 46: p. 3379-3386 2Z. Liu, S.D. Sajjad, Y. Gao, H. Yang, J.J. Kaczur, and R.I. Masel, The effect of membrane on an alkaline water electrolyzer Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 2017. 42: p. 29661-29665
Published Reviews
"MEA was prepared using Sustainion membrane X37-50 ... this membrane generated higher currents at lower overpotentials for a given catalyst and was comparatively easier to handle."Pivovar, et al. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsaem.9b00733
"The MEA equipped with Sustanion showed the best performance"Bessarabov et al., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.11.011
"Single-cell testing used Sustainion® membranes and ionomers to evaluate benchmark catalysts."Grace C. Anderson et al 2020 J. Electrochem. Soc. 167 044503
Performance of Sustainion® Anion Exchange Membranes
Under alkaline conditions, Sustainion® anion axchange membranes have highest conductivity and lowest ASR of any commercial alkaline exchange membrane
| Membrane | ASR in 1 M KOH, 60 °C | pH Range |
| Sustainion® 37-50 | 0.045 Ω-cm2 | 2-14 |
| Nafion 115 | 0.52 Ω-cm2 | 0-13 |
| Fumasep FAPQ-375 | 0.83 Ω-cm2 | 0-11 |
| AMI-7001 | 2.0 Ω-cm2 | 0-10 |
| PBI | 8.3 Ω-cm2 | 2-10 |
| Neosepta ACN | >50 Ω-cm2 | 0-8 |
Conductivity of Sustainion X37 as a function of temperature in various supporting electrolytes
Sustainion® 37 membranes outperform the competition
The effects of membrane on the linear sweep voltammogram taken with an alkaline water electrolyzer with a FeNiO4 anode catalyst and a FeNiCo cathode catalyst in 1 M KOH at 60 °C.
The effect of membrane on an alkaline water electrolyzer with a FeNiO4 anode catalyst and A FeNiCo cathode catalyst in 1 M KOH at 60 °C at a constant current of 1 A/cm2. The fumasep membrane failed after 200 hours.
CO2 Electrolysis
A constant current run (200 mA/cm2) of a room temperature CO2 electrolyzer with a Sustainion® 37-50 membrane and Sustainion® A9 ionomer in the cathode catalyst layer.
H2O Electrolysis
A constant current run (1000 mA/cm2 ) of a 60 °C alkaline water electrolyzer with a Sustainion® 37-50 membrane and a NiFeO4 anode catalyst and a NiFeCo cathode catalyst.
