Research Projects

The research aims to optimize the performance and cost of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, a crucial technology for generating green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is essential for India's National Hydrogen Mission, which aims to reduce CO₂ emissions in major polluting sectors. PEM electrolyzers are advantageous due to their high efficiency, rapid response time, low crossover, and pressurizing ability. However, PEM electrolyzers are expensive due to the use of rare materials, such as Iridium (Ir) and Titanium (Ti). Optimizing the anode of PEM electrolyzers can improve cell performance and reduce material cost. This work will use a combination of experimental and numerical techniques to vary the materials, structure, and architecture of the anode to optimize electrolyzer performance. This includes developing an experimental test station to evaluate electrolyzer performance under different operating conditions, assembling the electrolyzer using different commercial and in-house electrodes with varying Ir loading and electrode structure, testing the electrochemical performance of different electrode architectures, and using numerical modeling to elucidate the relationship between electrode structure and performance. The project will result in the development of PEM electrolyzers with reduced cost and improved performance, as well as novel experimental facilities for characterization of electrochemical energy systems, understanding structure-property relationships in porous electrodes, and high-fidelity numerical models for simulation of PEM electrolyzers. These results can be used for designing better experiments in the future.