Catalyst Layer Design for Efficient Anion-Exchange Membrane Regenerative Fuel Cells

Abstract

Unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) operate in electrolysis and fuel cell modes, enabling hydrogen-based energy stogage and conversion. They are categorized as AEM-URFCs and PEM-URFCs depending on the electrolyte. AME-URFCs attract attention due to lower corrosion converns and the use of non-noble metal catlaysts, which reduce costs. However, limited research on their membrane electode assembly(MEA) has led to lower performance and stability compared whith PEM-URFCs. In this study, a new catalyst layer was designed on the oxygen electrode side of the MEA, and the redesigned MEA showed improved performance and stability over a converntional MEA.