Panasonic Researchers Reach Record Efficiencies With Sustainion®

A group of researchers at Panasonic Corporation, Japan recorded an energy conversion efficiency of 74.7% for an alkaline water electrolysis cell flowing 1.0 A cm^-2 in 1 M KOH at 80 °C. The use of NiFe based cathodes was enabled by using our base stable anion conducting Sustainion® membrane and the corresponding results were published in a recent article in ACS Catalysis. Hence, it opens a viable replacement for IrO_x anode catalysts.

The work also cited our previous work where DM researchers were able to maintain similar efficiencies in a long-term stable water electrolysis cell using both base metal anode and cathode. Those results demonstrating the stability of the membrane and MEA in general are displayed below.

The steady state voltage to maintain 1 A/cm2 current with the Sustainion® X37 membrane and another commercial FAS-50 membrane for comparison at 60 ^oC with 1 M KOH. In all cases the cell had NiFe2O4 anode catalysts and NiFeCo cathode catalysts with catalyst loadings of 2 mg/cm².

This study is another testament to Sustainion’s ® superior performance. Sustainion® has proved its mettle and outperformed competitive commercial membranes in studies conducted by independent researchers as well.

If you want to achieve record water electrolysis efficiencies you can purchase a similar complete water electrolyzer or its individual components such as the membrane and electrodes on our webstore.